The Grey's Games
by trinitynix
Summary: AU. Grey's Anatomy characters put into the Hunger Games universe. Will your favorite win? Will romance triumph or will you watch your ship sink? Who will be strong enough to survive? What shocking secrets will be revealed? Rated T for language, violence and sexual references.
1. Meredith

Meredith Grey was pissed off.

She gazed out the window, watching the trees rush by in blurs of color as she pondered her crappy luck. She knew this would happen. The moment she heard that the Hunger Games were to be reinstated she knew her name would be pulled from that bowl. These kinds of things just seemed to happen to her.

It had been fifty years since the revolution finished and Panem had been peaceful for 45 of them. Nobody paid attention to the sudden grow in population as officials from other countries leaked into the Capitol. People ignored the hushed whispers that the Government were building a secret resistance, a Treaty had been signed and the people trusted the Capitol to keep their word. Their first mistake. By the time the people registered there was a problem it was too late. The Capitol had persuaded the leaders of District 1, 2 and 3 to join them in rising against the other districts and war soon broke out. The other districts fought bravely but were unprepared for such a vicious attack and were soon overwhelmed, falling under the influence of the Capitol yet again. The Hunger Games were reintroduced three years later.

This was as much as Meredith could remember. She considered herself a lover not a fighter, and so chose to hide with her family rather than fight. Yet here she was on a train heading into the Capitol and eventually into the arena where she knew she would die. She didn't stand a chance.

Her father and sister had fled to District 6 after hearing it was a safe haven. Meredith chose to stay with her mother, who was too sick to travel such a long distance by foot. Not that she had appreciated it. They fought vehemently every day, so it came as a relief when Meredith found out she would be leaving. Her mother had yelled good riddance after her.

That wasn't the reason she was livid. No, the reason Meredith Grey was so angry was because her sister had been reaped. Her sweet, wouldn't-kill-a-fly sister would be heading into the arena with her. Meredith thought she would be safe in District 6 but that had turned out to be a load of crap. The Peace Keepers ignored Lexie's pleas that she wasn't a citizen of this district as they dragged her onstage. Meredith wept as she watched on their small TV. Her mother didn't bat an eyelid. This was the kind of luck the Grey's seemed to get.

At least we can hold hands while we get stabbed Meredith thought glumly.

"Hey, it's on."

Meredith looked up at the source of the voice. Denny Duquette stood in the doorway, arms crossed, and looking even paler than yesterday. She didn't know much about this boy from her district. She knew that he was sick, that he missed the reaping because he was in hospital hooked up to a bunch of machines. The Peace Keepers had dragged him from his bed and dumped him onto the train, where creepy Capitol nurses with green hair had taken over his care. He stood as much chance in the arena as she did.

"Uh, yeah okay, I'm coming."

Meredith heaved herself off the squishy couch and headed towards the lounge carriage. The television was on and a man was onscreen sitting behind a desk. He had electric blue hair, bright purple eyes and teeth that were too white. He was dressed in a magnificent red suit with a velvet tie. He looked absolutely ridiculous. Exactly the image Eli Victorious was going for.

Meredith sat down on another couch that was too squishy as Victorious sat up straighter and flashed a blinding grin.

"Good afternoon residents of Panem! Well, well, well here we are again! Who would have guessed we would be holding our 76th Hunger Games fifty years after the 75th!

Victorious laughed a high pitched screech that didn't match the rest of his image.

"Now, before we begin, for those of you that missed the reaping's here is a quick reminder of our tributes to bring you up to date."

Victorious winked at the camera before a list of 26 names flashed up onscreen. It read:

**District 1: **Erica Hahn & Preston Burke

**District 2: **Calliope Torres & Mark Sloan

**District 3: **Theodora Altman & Owen Hunt

**District 4: **Arizona Robbins & Jackson Avery

**District 5: **Cristina Yang & Benjamin Warren

**District 6: **Alexandra Grey & Richard Webber

**District 7: **Meredith Grey & Dennison Duquette

**District 8: **Addison Montgomery & Derek Shepherd

**District 9: **Joanne Wilson & George O'Malley

**District 10: **Miranda Bailey & Charles Percy

**District 11: **April Kepner & Alexander Karev

**District 12: **Isobel Stevens & Shane Ross

**District 13: **Lauren Boswell & Gary Clark

The list faded away to be replaced by Victorious' smiling figure.

"Fantastic! 26 young tributes all determined to prove themselves worthy as a victor. Can you think of anything better? I sure can't! Now, as many of you know from the brochures that were delivered to your respective homes, there have been a few slight rule changes this year. These changes are to make the games more, uh, _thrilling _for those involved."

Victorious smiled again as his face faded to be replaced by another list that flashed on screen briefly.

**Rules Changes for the 76****th**** Hunger Games:**

-Tributes between the ages of 13-21 may be selected at each respective reaping.

-Two winners, one boy and one girl, from any district may be crowned. This rule may be subject to change.

-Tributes will be given six weeks to train at headquarters before entering the arena.

-A variety of medical supplies will be available in the given backpacks, including antiseptic liquids, bandages, suture kits etc.

-Due to the increase in training and supplies given, sponsors will no longer be available to provide aid.

-If one tribute defeats another, their name will be displayed next to the deceased picture in the sky.

-All tributes will be trained by one mentor. One-on-one sessions will be given.

Meredith barely had time to read the entire list before it disappeared. The rule of two victors was subject to change? It didn't take a genius to figure out _that _would happen.

"Would you look at that! The Capitol is good, the Capitol is kind! The tributes will now be so prepared it will take months before we have a winner!"

Victorious laughed lamely at his own joke.

"After the break, we will have an exclusive interview with our wonderful President as he talks about-"

"Turn that shit off," Denny said as he rose from the couch. Meredith clicked the power button and Victorious' voice went silent.

"What a load of crap," Denny growled.

"Those rules aren't there to help us. They're there so the Capitol gets a better show. Having us train for six weeks so we all get better at killing each other? Giving us medical supplies so the audience can watch in vain as we try to stitch up a sword gash? Showing us who killed who so we will chase down the guy that killed our friend? It's sick."

Denny slammed his fist against the wall, swaying slightly as the train rounded a bend.

"And everyone sharing a mentor? That's so the Capitol knows exactly what each tribute is hearing, so no one plans anything rebellious. This is bullshit."

He heaved a heavy sigh as his face grew whiter. They were both silent for a few minutes. Denny turned to Meredith, a look of sadness replacing the previous anger.

"I saw someone called Alexandra Grey on that list. You related to her?"

Meredith looked out the window. She could see the Capitol coming into view.

"Yeah, my sister."

"That's rotten luck."

"Yeah."

They stayed in silence for a few minutes as the Capitol grew closer.

"Well I feel like shit, I'm gonna rest up before the parade. See you later."

Denny sent Meredith a sympathetic smile that she returned half-heartedly before he exited the carriage. She sighed and leaned her head against the window watching the bright lights of the Capitol draw nearer with each second.

* * *

Meredith stood in the training room feeling like a weak child. All around her sounds of fighting echoed as tributes trained fiercely. They had been in the Capitol a week, and the strong had already shown their stuff. Tributes from Districts 1, 2 and 3 were meant to be tough, but Meredith didn't realise they were _this _tough. They moved so fluidly, attacked so violently, and defended so skilfully Meredith considered killing herself now to save them the bother.

Hahn and Burke were the most vicious. They never seemed to stop training, only sparing with each other as everyone else didn't seem worth their time. They seemed to be good at _everything_. The boy from 5, Ben Warren, made the mistake of challenging Hahn to a sword fight. He was lucky to survive.

Then there was Torres and Sloan. They were friendly for careers, offering to help those around them that they saw struggling. When they spared together, however, they were anything but friendly. They seemed to read the others move before they even made them. They moved as a team, even when fighting each other, as they performed moves Meredith couldn't describe. They always finished with a laugh though, Sloan often giving Torres a slap on the ass to which she would reply by shoving him into a wall.

Hunt and Altman were in the middle. They were friendly enough, but both were determined in their training. Altman was a deadly shot with a bow and arrow, the best of any of the tributes. She would climb around the gym with ease, deadly in both the air and on land. Hunt often focused on his use with knifes, deadly in both throwing and hand to hand combat.

Meredith sat on a bench and sighed. She was mediocre to rubbish at everything. She had been paired with 14 year old George O'Malley for sword practice the other day and made an absolute dick of herself. She managed to poke herself in the eye whilst sparing, causing O'Malley to start crying as he felt it was his fault. Thankfully the swords were plastic, meaning the only thing that was damaged was her ego.

"That guy is such a psycho."

Meredith looked up and saw Cristina Yang, leaning against the wall next to her and staring at someone in the gym.

"Uh, who?"

"The guy from 13. Look at him, he's got crazy eyes. He looks like he's got McDreamy's number."

Meredith was confused. McDreamy? She looked across the room and spotted Gary Clark and Derek Shepherd climbing some netting that hung from the roof. Clark was higher than Shepherd and kept standing on Shepherd's fingers as he climbed; smiling each time he heard an anguished yell. Clark glanced down and stood on Shepherd's head to give himself a boost. Shepherd lost his grip and fell, yelling out as his body hit the ground with a hard thump.

"What the hell man! It's meant to be a non-contact race you asshole!"

Clark let go of the netting and landed on the ground on all fours. He glared at Shepherd before smiling sadistically.

"You wanna go pretty boy, huh? 'Cos we can. Right now, it'll save me killing you in the arena."

Shepherd snarled and started towards him, only to be intercepted by Mark Sloan.

"Woah, woah hey calm down he isn't worth it man," Sloan said quietly. "Save it for the Games."

Shepherd continued to give Clark a death snare. He glanced up at Sloan who shook his head gently. Eventually, he spat on the ground and stalked off toward the fire making section.

"Oh McDreamy can be McNasty too", Cristina said as she laughed at the altercation.

"Uh, why do you call him McDreamy?" Meredith asked.

"Have you seen that perfect hair? He looks like he belongs in a fairytale. And he looks like he would call himself that. That Clark guys a dick but he's right, Shepherd's a pretty boy."

Cristina laughed hysterically and Meredith couldn't help but join in. Soon they were both clutching their sides and gasping for breath.

Cristina choked out, "Are you as screwed as I am?"

"You have no idea."

They looked at each other again and burst into a fresh round of laughter.

From that day on they were inseparable.


	2. Alex

**A/N: This story will change POV's with each chapter. This is so you can know a little about the character's background and pick your favorites, plus get to see certain situations from different POV's. Enjoy :)**

**Oh and none of these character's/universe' belong to me. I merely have the pleasure of writing about them for fun.**

Alex grunted as someone threw a t-shirt at him.

He blinked rapidly, shielding his eyes from the morning sun to see a half-naked woman buttoning up her shirt. He smirked, remembering meeting this woman at the bar, taking mere minutes of suggestive whispering before she agreed to come home with him. He squinted as he tried to remember her name. Amanda? Alice? Ava? Something like that.

"Where do you think you're going?" Alex asked, still smirking.

She turned quickly, flashing him a grin before pulling her skirt up over her hips. Alex mentally high fived himself, she was _hot_.

"Some of us have to work. And I want to get in before the reaping finishes to avoid the crowds," she replied.

Alex reached over, pulling her back onto the bed. She giggled as he crawled on top of her before pulling her in for a passionate kiss. After a few minutes, she pulled away from his lips.

"Alex, I'm serious I have work."

"There's some work here that needs attending too as well," he replied, glancing down suggestively at his pants.

She shook her head and pushed him off before standing up to find her shoes. Alex sighed heavily. She obviously wasn't interested anymore so he didn't care if she left.

"You skipping the reaping as well then?"

The girl (Amelia?) froze as she zipped up her boots. She turned slowly towards him, frowning.

"I'm 28. You told me you were 26."

"Give or take eight years," Alex shrugged.

"Oh my God!" The girl finished zipping up her boot and strode towards the door. "You should be at the reaping Alex. You'll get in serious trouble if they discover you're not there."

Alex sat up. He didn't care if the Capitol found out. He was always getting beatings from the Peace Keepers for stealing and fighting, he'd survive another one. He did care that his one night stand was about to leave though. From what he could remember, she was a good lay and he wouldn't mind having a booty call for those boring nights.

"Alison, wait! Come on babe, I'll be whatever age you want me to be," Alex said, trying his best to be as charming as possible.

"It's Lisa, jackass."

She strode out and slammed the door. Alex groaned and fell back onto his pillows. He glanced at his clock. 8:30am. The reaping would be finishing about now. He got out of bed, stretching wide, before walking topless into the kitchen. A woman was slumped over the dinner table, sound asleep, a bottle of prescription pills next to her. Alex walked over, feeling for a pulse before heading to the pantry. This wasn't an unusual start to the morning for Alex Karev. His mother had been addicted to pills for years. His father couldn't cope and had left when Alex was eleven, leaving him to raise his brother and sister.

He grabbed the cereal from the top shelf and started eating it straight from the box before sitting down in front of the television. They only had one channel, which was currently showing a replay of the reaping. He figured he may as well watch it, see if anyone he knew was about to about to die. The girls name was pulled from the bowl. April Kepner. Alex snorted, spraying pieces of cereal from his mouth. He knew her, but couldn't say he was exactly upset. She had been in one of his high school classes a few years ago. Teacher's pet, know it all, whiney. Probably still a virgin too, Alex thought. She was a dead girl walking.

"Now, for the boys," the woman from the Capitol said before reaching into the bowl. Suddenly, there was a loud knocking at the front door. Alex frowned. They never had visitors, never mind at nine o'clock in the morning. He put his cereal down and walked to the door. Reaching for the handle, he froze as the woman on the television said, "Alex Karev."

Alex spun around, running towards the television and dropping to his knees in front of it. The woman stood on the stage as the crowd was silent. She cleared her throat nervously.

"Alex Karev? Come up here dear."

The crowd remained silent. More loud banging on the front door.

Alex sat speechless. This couldn't be happening. He felt numb He was going into the arena. He was going to die. What would happen to his siblings? They weren't old enough to look after themselves. He ran over to his mother and shook her.

"Mom? Mom! Wake up! Please wake up, I need you. Something's happened, you have to help me! Well not me, you have to help Aaron and Amber, they need you now. I'm-I have to go away. Please, Mom, WAKE UP!"

She mumbled something incoherent, turning her head away from him, resuming her sleep. A loud crash echoed through the room and three Peace Keepers stood with their guns pointed at his chest. Alex raised his hands, eyes wide with fear.

"Alex Karev?"

"Yes."

"Why were you not at the reaping?"

"I, um, slept in. Sorry."

One of the Peace Keepers marched over to where Alex was standing and slammed his gun into his temple. Alex yelled out in pain and fell to his knees.

"You have disrespected the Capitol and your district," the Peace Keeper said in a dull voice, "You will be punished with twelve lashings to the back before you board the train. You have missed your opportunity to say goodbye to friends or family, other than those currently present in your home. We will give you exactly one minute to say your farewells."

"Don't bother," Alex replied, rising to his feet and rubbing his head. The Peace Keeper grabbed him roughly on the shoulder and began to steer him out of his house. Alex glanced back briefly at his mother, then to the bedroom doors of his sleeping siblings. He didn't know what would happen to them. He didn't think he would live long enough to find out.

* * *

Alex was breathing heavily. Shane Ross stood over him, plastic sword pressed against Alex's throat. They had been paired together for sword sparing and Alex was getting his ass kicked. Ross was breathing heavily too, though he had a triumphant grin on his face.

"That's 4-nil Karev. You sure you've done this before?"

"Whatever dude. Let me up."

Ross pulled his sword away and Alex got slowly to his feet. He grimaced as he felt the skin on his back tighten. He had received all twelve lashings on his back, leaving long cuts and restricting any quick movements he tried to do whilst sparing. Besides, Alex thought as they continued practicing, it meant everyone would underestimate him in the arena. That was a good thing, right? Ross saw Alex's lapse in concentration and struck. He battered Alex's sword to the side, sticking his foot forward and flipped Alex over his hip. Alex fell to the floor with a _thwump _and felt Ross' sword at his throat again.

"That's 5-nil."

"I'm over this, go find a different partner," Alex spat, shoving his sword to the side and standing up gingerly.

He walked to the nearest bench and sat down, willing the pain in his back to dull. He was decent with a sword. His uncle had given him lessons when his Dad left and he had begun to get quite good. Until his uncle pissed off a Peace Keeper and got himself killed. Alex would occasionally swipe away at old sand bags but he had to admit, he was out of practice. A whistle sounded throughout the gym, signalling for the tributes to change stations. He looked up and saw the knot tying station was free. Knot tying didn't require movement, so he stood up tenderly and began to walk. By the time he arrived, a girl was sitting in one of the seats, already beginning her first knot. He couldn't remember her name. It didn't really matter, they were all going to end up dead anyway.

"Shane's a douche."

Alex looked up to see the girl smiling at him.

"What?"

"He's really arrogant. It'll get him killed in the arena."

"Right."

Alex focused on his rope, trying to tie a square knot. He learnt how to do this when he was fourteen but kept forgetting the correct order in which to tie. All he could remember was that this knot was useful for securing items together.

"I'm Jo Wilson," the girl said, smiling brightly at him.

"Look I'm trying to concentrate on this knot and your talking isn't helping. Shut it," Alex snapped.

Jo looked hurt and fell silent. Alex returned to focusing on his knot. Was it left over right and twist or right over left and twi-

"You know you're doing that completely wrong."

"You do it then, Einstein!"

Jo grabbed the rope from his hands and completed a perfect square knot in a matter of seconds. She held it out to him proudly. Alex sneered at her and stood up.

"Whatever. Try throwing that at someone when they come to decapitate you in the arena, see if it saves you then. I don't need this crap, I'm out of here."

With that Alex stood up and stalked off to his room, leaving a baffled Jo in his wake.

* * *

The next day, Alex sat against the wall of the gym watching the other tributes. He felt too sore to participate today, the cuts on his back glowing dark red as they began to heal. He watched the other tributes as they trained.

Hunt and Altman were over by the bows. Altman hit the target bang in the middle and they high fived. Hunt said something to her and she laughed a little too hard, leaning into him. It didn't take a genius to see the one-sided flirting occurring.

He glanced over to the knife throwing station. Jackson Avery and Charles Percy were throwing at the targets. They weren't even close to hitting them. Eventually they gave up, sitting down and twirling the knifes between their fingers as they chatted.

Cristina Yang and Meredith Grey were leaning against a wall laughing, as they always were. Alex couldn't remember if he'd ever seen them training. Yang reached into her pocket, pulling out a flask and swigging some down before handing it to Meredith. Two Peace Keeper's came running over and snatched the flask from her grasp before she could take a drink, which really pissed her off. He chuckled as they yelled at the Peace Keeper's, throwing their arms up in the air and trying to snatch the flask back. The Peace Keeper's turned around and began to walk away. Yang pulled the finger at their receding backs. Grey tapped her on the shoulder and pulled another flask from her pants. They burst into laughter and high fived.

Burke and Hahn were having a race up the netting, arms pumping furiously as they scrambled towards the roof. Bailey and Shepherd were at the painting station, chatting and laughing openly as they attempted to make their arms look like tree bark.

Alex sighed and closed his eyes. Everyone seemed to be getting along so well. And yet in a few weeks they would be trying to murder each other in cold blood.

"Have you had those cuts looked at?"

Alex opened his eyes and looked up. He met blue eyes, dimples popping as the woman smiled reassuringly at him. He felt oddly comforted by her presence, but in a non-sexual way. Too tired to tell her to leave him alone he raised his eyebrow, intrigued.

"How did you know?"

The girl shrugged.

"My brother gets himself into a lot of trouble; he gets whipped regularly so I know the signs when I see them. We figured out a special medicine that helps them heal quickly."

She sat down next to him and held out her hand.

"Arizona Robbins."

"Alex Karev."

She smiled as he shook her hand. They sat in silence for a few moments watching the tributes. Alex noticed Arizona's eyes continuously drawn to the spear throwing section where the tributes from Two were practicing. Alex smirked.

"You got the hots for Sloan?"

Arizona whipped her head around.

"What?"

"You keep staring at the tributes from Two. I get it; Sloan's a good looking guy. I heard him and little Grey are bumping uglies though, so I think you're out of luck."

Arizona laughed loudly and shook her head.

"God, we've only been here, what, a week and a half? Some people are unbelievable. And I do NOT have it in for Sloan. He's, uh, not my type."

Arizona blushed furiously and looked away. Alex shrugged. They sat in silence for a few more moments. Alex re positioned himself and hissed as he felt his shirt rub against the cuts. Arizona turned, not missing his obvious discomfort.

"Come on let me take you up to my room. I bought some extra medicine just in case I got into some trouble while I was here but you obviously need it more."

Alex sat stunned. No one had shown him kindness like this before without wanting something in return. He looked at her suspiciously.

"What are you wanting in return?"

Arizona looked at him, confused.

"Nothing? I'm just an awesome friend, you're lucky to have me," Arizona replied, dimples popping again.

Alex stared at her again. He didn't come here wanting to make friends, but it looked like he'd just made one. Arizona helped him stand up and they began walking slowly to the door.

"So we're 'friends' huh? And you're taking me up to your room. I'm your type then?" Alex said smirking.

Arizona laughed again and turned to him.

"Lose the penis and you might be."

She winked at him and continued walking to the door. Alex stood confused for a moment before it dawned on him. He glanced back to where the tributes from Two were still throwing spears at targets, laughing loudly whenever the other missed. Now he noticed the raven haired girl, how bright her smile was, with curves that would put the girls in his district to shame. He saw Arizona glance their way again before exiting the gym. Alex smiled, shook his head, and followed his new friend out the door.


	3. Mark & Callie

Mark Sloan wasn't stupid.

He had been called many things in his 20 years; slut, arrogant, whore, proud, womaniser; but stupid wasn't one of them.

He sat against the wall sipping water and gazing around the gym. He had just had an intense sword practice session with Callie and was sweating profusely. She had gone to fetch some boxing gloves and pads which gave Mark time to analyse the surrounding tributes.

There were only two weeks to go before they entered the arena and tensions were starting to run high. More than one fist fight had broken out in the past week, Gary Clark seeming to be in the middle of all of them. Kid was a psycho.

The most interesting fight had occurred in the first week between Clark and Karev. Karev had been chatting to Richard Webber while they practiced lighting fires. Clark walked up to him and slapped him on the back, telling him he was doing a good job. Karev had howled and leapt to his feet. Mark hadn't missed the mischievous glint in Clark's eyes as he raised his fists and beckoned Karev to come at him. Webber had to hold back the furious Karev as Clark howled with laughter, clutching his sides as he walked away. Karev continued to struggle, trying to break the hold he was in, with a look of murder in his eyes. The dimpled blond girl from Four came running over, talking in low whispers to him, and pulling a tub of something from her pocket. Eventually, Karev calmed down enough and nodded, following her out of the gym.

Each spare moment, Mark analysed the other tributes, trying to figure out any alliances that were forming. There were the obvious ones; Hunt and Altman, Burke and Hahn, Yang and Big Grey. Mark had noticed Jo Wilson following Alex around like a puppy. He seemed to only have nasty things to say to her but she was never deterred. Eventually he had grown tired of fighting her and had let her tag along with him.

He wasn't sure whether Addison and Derek were a team. They seemed happy for the first few days, often seen at activities together and sitting with each other at meetings. But since the beginning of week two all they had done was fight like dogs. It was a regular occurrence hearing Addison's shrill voice fill the gym as they argued over the stupidest shit Mark could think of. Like the best chair to sit in in their lounge. Yeah, _that _argument had lasted twenty minutes.

Izzie Stevens and Denny Duquette had appeared to form an alliance, but he doubted that would last. He wasn't even sure Duquette would make it _to _the games. He looked paler every day and often pulled up in activities, clutching his chest. But when he didn't look like he was about to drop dead on the spot, he spent all his time with Stevens. They would ignore the station they were on and just talk, laughing and play fighting. Mark hadn't seen him appear in the gym for a week, so now Stevens sat alone.

Mark turned his focus to the knife throwing section where Lexie Grey was practicing with April Kepner. She was showing Kepner how to hold the knife properly to make sure the point hit the target. Mark smiled. He had become quite fond of the younger Grey lately. He had spoken to her a few times and she seemed different to other woman he had met. She was smart and caring, and Mark felt like he could talk to her for days without getting bored. But that seemed to be all she was interested in, talking.

"You're staring again. It's creepy, please stop."

Callie Torres stood with her hand on her hips, boxing gloves and pads at her feet. Mark shrugged and put his water down, reaching out to put the pads on his hands as Callie strapped on the gloves.

"You know the rumors going around about you two right? Are you sleeping with her? She's only 17 you know, it's kind of gross."

Callie punched hard at Mark's hands earning two satisfying _thwacks_. Mark shook his head.

"Believe me, if we were sleeping together I'd tell you. All she wants to do is talk. And I'm fine with that you know? I reckon she's worth it."

_Thwack, Thwack._

"It's amazing how much you can learn from someone when you remain upright," he added.

Callie stopped and looked at him raising her eyebrow. He held eye contact with her defiantly before she let out a laugh.

"Whatever you say Mark," she replied, glancing over at the knot tying station. Arizona Robbins was sitting with George O'Malley, showing him how to tie a complex looking knot. He messed it up and thrust his arms into the air. She smiled encouragingly and showed him the steps again.

"So are you planning to talk to her in the next two weeks, or are you two happy to just eye-fuck each other?"

Callie spun around, eyed wide.

"I-we don't eye-fuck each other! I-I don't even know who you're talking about. I'm focused Mark, I'm here to win. She just seems nice that's all. Not that I know who you're talking about."

Mark laughed loudly at the rambling Callie, earning him a punch across the jaw.

"Oh shut up Mark. You're no better, chasing after the underage child."

"Hey, she's turning eighteen next week!"

"Yeah, whatever. Hold the pads up."

Mark obliged and they spared in silence for a few minutes, the _thwack _of glove hitting pad the only sound between them, each in their own thoughts. Suddenly, Mark remembered his idea.

"You know Torres, I've been thinking-"

"Always dangerous."

"-and I think we should expand the Vagina Squad."

Callie stopped, wiping the sweat off her forehead and looked at Mark in a confused manner.

"I'm sorry, the _what?"_

"I figured we should come up with a name for our team. And since we're both into that, I thought that name sounded good. What do you think?

"I think you're disgusting. No team name."

"What about Minge Mob?"

"That's even worse."

"Pussy Parade?"

"Mark!"

"Okay fine, no name. But I'm serious about expanding. Another set of eyes can't hurt in the arena, right?"

Mark glanced briefly over at Lexie Grey, which wasn't missed by Callie. She looked over to where Lexie was now standing, chatting amicably with April Kepner as they removed dirt from their fingernails with the throwing knifes. Callie sighed and turned back to him.

"You've really got it bad for her, huh?"

"What? No I don't. She's got a fantastic memory though. Remembers every strategy they've ever taught us in training. And she's surprisingly good with a sword."

Callie raised her eyebrow.

"Good with a sword? I'm _sure _she is Mark. Are we still talking about weapons though?" Callie smirked.

Mark glanced down at his pants.

"I consider my penis a weapon."

"I have no idea why I'm friends with you."

"Because I'm sharp witted and a great lay?"

"We haven't slept together in years Mark."

"You miss it though right? My sword banging against your shield?"

"Again, you're disgusting."

"What do you say though? We pick one person each to add to the team. I mean, I have absolutely _no _idea who you're going to pick," Mark said as he rolled his eyes.

Callie hesitated. She knew why Mark was proposing this plan; he wanted to keep Lexie safe. It would be sweet if it wasn't so suicidal. More people in their team meant more people who could betray them or give away their position. Then again she knew where Mark was coming from. There was a certain someone she wouldn't mind having close to her in the arena. Callie swallowed.

"Okay one person each. Except, uh, I'll need a few days to figure out my choice. 'Cos, you know, I have no one in mind yet, so, um, yeah, good plan," she finished lamely. Mark rolled his eyes.

They spared furiously for twenty minutes. Mark tried to make the pads as difficult to hit as possible, but Callie got them every time. Eventually, they fell to the ground, panting heavily, satisfied with their efforts. Mark saw Callie glance over at the knot tying station and Mark decided to act. He stood up bringing a pad with him and threw it as hard as he could at the blonde girl.

"Mark! What the hell are you doing," Callie hissed.

"Hopefully getting you laid. Now smile, she's coming over."

Callie panicked and spun around. Arizona Robbins was walking towards her, rubbing her head and holding the pad in her other hand. She stopped in front of Callie, smiling wide as she handed it to her.

"I think this is yours."

"Uh, yeah, it is. S-sorry about that," Callie stammered.

"She hit it clean off my hand," Mark interjected, "and look how far it went! She's fantastic with her hands you know, even better with her finge-"

"Mark! I think you should go practice your spear throwing."

"Why? I'm fantastic with a spear."

"No you're not. You suck. Go. Now."

Callie sent him a death glare and his shoulder slumped. He begrudgingly walked over to the spears, where Jackson Avery was standing sizing them up. He threw an arm around his shoulder and proceeded to give a bewildered Avery advice on the best length spear to choose. Callie shook her head and turned back to her guest.

"Sorry about him, he's an ass. Callie Torres," she smiled as she extended her hand.

"Arizona Robbins," the girl replied, smiling so hard Callie thought her dimples may explode. "You seem to train with him a lot so he can't be that bad. Is he your-?"

"No," Callie interjected quickly," Just a friend."

Arizona seemed to smile, if possible, even wider.

"Well that's, um, awesome. You guys make a good team."

Callie shrugged; happy Arizona was continuing the conversation.

"I guess so. I've seen you with that Karev kid a lot; he came across as a bit of an ass too. You're the only person he seems genuinely happy to be around. Are you two…?"

"No," Arizona said quickly, "We're just friends too. He got whipped pretty badly before he came here and I had a remedy for it. I think that's the only reason he actually talks to me." Arizona laughed. Callie smiled. It just seemed so easy talking to this girl.

"He got into a bit of trouble trying to fight Gary Clark," Callie said.

Suddenly, Arizona's expression darkened. Callie was taken aback how quickly her perky demeanour had changed to one of resent and anger. Arizona shook her head as she scowled.

"Gary Clark is a bad egg. He's just one of those guys whose here to make everyone miserable, he knows he hasn't got a chance in the arena. Personally, I won't be upset when he dies."

Callie stared at her, shocked. To wish death upon someone was a pretty dark thing to do. Maybe she had misread this girl; did she really want someone like this on her team?

Arizona glanced at Callie and sighed, the anger on her face being replaced by one of sadness. She knew that was a horrible thing to say, but Clark had hurt her friend. Should she tell Callie the true story? It wasn't really hers to say, but she felt the need to get back in this girl's good books. Arizona breathed out slowly.

"Alex missed his reaping. The Peace Keeper's came to his house and took him to an alley where they whipped him twelve times on the back before putting him onto the train. They ordered the doctors to give him no medical treatment as he needed to suffer for defying the Capitol. One of the Peace Keeper's was Gary Clark's uncle. He told Gary what they had done, so he knew that Alex would be suffering. Slapping him on the back like that, it was just an evil and disrespectful thing to do. The medicine I have is good but takes a few days to work. Clark saw that I had it and knew that Alex would be healed in a few days and so he acted."

Arizona shook her head sadly and pulled the tub from her pocket, showing Callie how empty it was.

"I managed to get Alex to calm down enough and lead him back to his room where I used the rest of it."

She pocketed the tub and Callie stared at her. After a few moments, Callie spoke.

"I've heard of that medicine. It's rare. Heals any wound you may have in a matter of days. And you used it all on him? Do you realise how helpful that could have been in the arena? Arizona, that's-that's so-?"

"Stupid? Yeah I know."

"I was going for kind or generous."

Arizona smiled at Callie and in that moment, Callie knew. She wanted this girl on her team. Mark had been right, she did like her. She was amazing and kind and sweet and Callie was going to ask her to join the Vagina Squad. No, not the Vagina Squad, their team. She would have to thank Mark later for setting up this impromptu meeting between them; he really was a good frien-

_THWACK!_

Something hard collided into the back of Callie's knees and she fell forward onto them.

"What the hell!" Callie yelled. She looked behind her and Mark was standing with a wooden sword; one he had just driven into the back of Callie knees. He began laughing.

"Sorry Torres, couldn't resist. Your knees must be sore from last night. Don't worry, next time you can kneel on the bed, not the floor," he finished with a wink.

"I-wha-Mark what are you talking about?"

He ignored her and turned to Arizona.

"Did Torres ask you to join the Clunge Clan yet?"

Arizona stared bewildered at him.

"The, uh, what?"

"Nothing. Mark Sloan," he said, offering his hand.

"Arizona Robbins," Arizona replied. She clenched her jaw as they shook hands.

"What was that? Alabama?" Mark said. Arizona smiled stiffly, her dimples nowhere in sight.

"Wow I haven't heard that one before," she replied shortly. She turned to Callie.

"I've, um, got my one-on-one session with Stark now. So, I'll see you round hopefully?"

"Yeah absolutely," Callie replied with a smile, "See you later."

Mark put his arm around Callie's shoulder and faced Arizona as she walked away.

"Yeah, Torres and I have a one-on-one session later too. Stark won't be there though, so you're free to join," he yelled after her retreating back. Arizona turned and shot him a death glare before exiting the gym. The moment she was out of sight, Mark burst into laughter and Callie threw his arm off her shoulder.

"What the fuck was that Mark! Why did you do that for! It's not funny!"

Mark didn't reply, he was on the ground howling with laughter. Callie grabbed one of the boxing gloves and repeatedly beat him round the head with it. She wasn't sure he even felt it he was laughing so hard. Then, she got an idea.

Eventually, Mark sat up, wiping the tears from his eyes. He had noticed Callie stopped beating him a few minutes ago and was finally able to compose himself. He began to speak before he realised she wasn't there anymore. He looked around the gym and froze. She was speaking to Lexie, who had a look of utmost disgust on her face. Callie put a hand on her shoulder and nodded her head sadly. Lexie shook her head in revulsion as she stared at Mark and promptly strode out of the gym. Callie made her way back to Mark, a smug grin plastered across her face. Mark ran over to her.

"What the hell did you just say to her!?"

"Oh nothing really. Just that you gave me and half of the other girls here syphilis," Callie finished as she burst into laughter.

"You did what!? Callie, no!"

"Yeah, two can play at that game Sloan."

Mark stared at his friend, who now had tears of mirth rolling down her face. God, she was a bitch. And he wouldn't trade her friendship for anything in the world. Except maybe a night with Lexie, but now it looked like that was off the cards. He straightened himself.

"I'm going to tell Alabama that you're straight."

That shut Callie up. She stared up at him, mouth open.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Watch me" Mark smirked as he took off, running for the exit. Callie was hot on his heels in seconds, lunging forward and tackling him around the ankles. They both fell to the floor, laughing, and began to wrestle. Mark tried fruitlessly to throw her off him but she was strong. Suddenly, a pair of legs connected with Callie's back and a woman went tumbling over her.

Callie and Mark stopped wrestling and looked at the victim. Erica Hahn lay flat on her back, and if looks could kill, Callie knew she'd be a goner. Hahn got slowly to her feet before darting forward, pulling Callie off of Mark by the scruff of her shirt. Her face was inches from Callie's as she spoke.

"This is a sparing area, not a place for you to dry hump your boyfriend. You just cost me a point," she snarled nodding towards Burke, who was standing with his hands on his hips. Callie turned back to Hahn.

"Chill out, we didn't realise where we landed. It's just a practice, you'll get over it," Callie spat back before tugging her collar from Hahn's grip. Hahn sneered and shoved Callie backwards, where Sloan caught her.

"I'll chill out when your head's skewered on the end of my sword," Hahn whispered, only loud enough for the three of them to hear. "Or maybe I'll go for that little Blondie first. What's her name? Indiana? She seems like an easy target. I kill her and you'll come to me all by yourself, maybe I'll do that instead."

The color drained from Callie's face. Hahn smirked and stalked back towards Burke where they continued their practice.

Callie and Mark stood in silence for a moment trying to process what had just happened. Callie knew she stood a chance against Hahn in the arena, but Arizona? Callie shuddered. Mark shook his head and put his arm around her shoulder, recognizing her discomfort.

"Come on it's nearly dinner time, we may as well head up to the apartment," he said softly, knowing Callie would want to get away from that psycho as quickly as possible. Callie nodded and they headed towards the door. They reached the exit and Mark turned to Callie, smirking.

"Looks like the Pussy Posse has its first enemy," Mark said, before bursting into fresh rounds of laughter.

Callie sighed and shoved a howling Mark through the door.


	4. Owen

"Nice throw, Hunt!"

Owen turned around and smiled as Teddy walked towards him. Owen had been practicing his knife throwing, again, and was destroying the dummy targets with ease. Teddy picked up one of the knives and twirled it between her fingers.

"Five bucks says I get the dummy in the head," Teddy said. Owen nodded and turned to face the target. She exhaled slowly and focused on the head, blocking everything else out of her mind. She pulled her arm back and threw the knife with devastating speed, hitting the dummy where its heart would be. Teddy's shoulders slumped as Owen held out his hand.

"Pay up, Altman," Owen said, smirking as a crisp five dollar bill was slammed into his hand. "Stick to the bow, Robin Hood."

Teddy pushed him playfully.

"That was a one off. Plus, the guy would be dead with a knife to the heart anyway. Win-win."

Owen nodded and stared at the knife in his hands. He and Teddy had been best friends since middle school, inseparable since high school. They entered the Academy as soon as they heard whispers that the Capitol was planning a takeover. Day in day out they trained relentlessly, perfecting their skills with the weapons that felt right to them. No one else in their class even came close to their skill level and that was the way they liked it. By the time the reaping came around, they had been training furiously for four years and felt ready to enter the arena, so they volunteered. As far as Owen was concerned, they were the best team here.

But Teddy had been acting strange around him lately. She laughed at everything he said, touched his arm whenever she talked to him and the other day he could have sworn she was wearing make-up to training. Owen wasn't interested in a relationship right now and he had expressed these feelings to Teddy on the train into the Capitol. She had simply laughed and said she didn't think of him that way, but had proceeded to lock herself in her carriage for the remainder of the trip.

Teddy picked up another knife and began scratching it lightly against her palm. She watched Owen who looked deep in thought. She cleared her throat.

"Hey, um, so I was thinking, do you want to go grab some dinner tomorrow night? Like, at a restaurant or something outside of the hotel? Explore what the Capitol has to offer while we have the chance?" Teddy asked with a nervous smile.

Owen glanced up at her, confused. Why would they leave the hotel for? The food was delicious and at least it was safe in here. God knew what kind of things were on the streets of the Capitol.

"Uh, no, I'm good. The hotel food is fine, can't really be bothered going out," he finished with a shrug.

Teddy's face fell, her expression clearly showing disappointment, but soon being replaced by one of annoyance. She twirled the knife between her fingers, gritting her teeth. The sudden hostility wasn't missed by Owen, which confused him even more. What was her problem?

"Hey, Teddy, are you oka-?"

"I'm fine," Teddy spat, "I'm going to practice climbing the nets with Arizona."

"Isn't that where you just came from?" Owen replied.

Teddy ignored him and made to leave. She paused, turned, and flicked her wrist, sending the knife she was holding into the groin of the closest dummy before stalking off.

Owen gulped.

* * *

A horn sounded through the gym. All the tributes stopped what they were doing and looked for the source of the noise. Robert Stark came wandering in, holding an air horn and a sheet of paper.

"Gather round tributes!" he called in his nazily voice. Stark was the mentor that the Capitol had supplied the tributes and he was useless. He barely knew anything about combat and was only useful for discussing strategies with, from which he no doubt passed onto the Game Makers. He was a short, balding man and he stood on a bench as the tributes gathered around him in a semi-circle. He cleared his throat.

"As you are aware, you will be entering the arena in exactly one week's time. Precisely two nights before you enter, we will be holding the Last Chance Ball."

This was met by a few whoops throughout the crowd. Owen had no idea what a Last Chance Ball was, but judging by the excited murmuring around him, it was a good thing. He returned his focus back to Stark.

"Yes, yes it's all very exciting," Stark continued. "For those of you who don't know what this is, it is an event held in your honor, marking one of your last days on eart- uh, in the Capitol. You will be expected to dress and behave appropriately as there will be officials from the Capitol in attendance."

Stark pulled some glasses from his pocket and perched them on his nose. He began reading from the sheet of paper.

"Tributes are not allowed to engage in inappropriate behaviour with guests or each other. Tributes may not be intoxicated or on any kind of drug at the event. Tributes are to speak in a professional and eloquent way any guest who approaches them. Every tribute must attend for at least four hours before heading to bed." Stark folded the sheet and put it in his pocket. "Any questions?"

A hand at the back of the crowd was raised. Stark nodded towards it.

"Mark Sloan, District Two. I was just wondering sir, have you ever been to a ball before?"

A few sniggers followed this comment.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything Mr Sloan."

"Respectively sir, it has everything to do everything. Those rules you just listed, that's not a ball. That sounds like a play group where our mothers stand around and hold our hands." More sniggers echoed through the crowd. "From what I've heard about the Last Chance Ball," Sloan continued, "It's your last chance to get drunk, last chance to get laid-"

"That is enough Mr Sloan!"

"I'm just saying sir, there's no way I'm following those rules."

Stark sneered.

"Well then, perhaps the Peace Keepers can change your mind."

At that, two Peace Keeper's came running forward grabbing his shoulders and steering him out the door. Sloan fought them before one brought his gun down on Sloan's head, his body falling limp. Owen stared at the ground. Sloan would be lucky if the gashes he was about to receive would heal before they entered the arena.

"Now, any other questions."

The crowd stayed silent. Stark nodded and promptly walked from the room. The group immediately broke into discussion.

"Do you reckon Sloan will be alright?"

"I mean he was right, there's no way _I'm _going to follow those rules either."

"Me neither, I just didn't say anything 'cos I didn't get the chance."

Owen glanced towards the back where he saw Callie with an arm around a sobbing Lexie, trying to console her as she fought back her own tears. Owen spotted Teddy standing next to Cristina Yang and made his way toward her.

"That was pretty crazy, huh?" Owen said when he was within distance of her. Teddy nodded and sharply walked away from him to stand with Arizona, who was watching Callie with a pained expression on her face. Owen stood bemused. What the hell had he done to deserve this?

"Looks like you pissed her off pretty bad."

Owen looked down to see Cristina Yang, eyebrow raised in his direction. She had her arms crossed and looked like she couldn't care less about the situation.

"Yeah, I have no idea what I've done though. She just won't talk to me."

Cristina shook her head.

"God, men are so blind. Every tribute sees the way she looks at you. You're the only one who's oblivious to it. If it was me I'd be pretty pissed too."

"What do you mea-"

Owen's words were drowned out by two women yelling. He turned and saw Callie and Erica, faces inches apart, screaming at each other.

"How dare you say that," Callie screamed, "Nobody deserves that you absolute bitch!"

"He was going against the rules, what do you expect!" Hahn spat back.

"Not everything's about the rules, Hahn! He's a person who's about to get the shit beaten out of him for expressing an opinion we were all thinking!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be there to kiss him better," Hahn retorted. Callie drew her fist back, but was grabbed by Addison Montgomery before she could punch the smile off of Hahn's face. Derek Shepherd ran between them and forced them apart.

"She's not worth it Callie," Derek said, "Just leave it."

Callie wrenched her hand free from Addison's grasp and glared at Hahn.

"Yeah, I will leave it. I'll leave it for the arena. You're fucking _dead _Hahn." With that she turned on her heel and strode out the door, Lexie running after her. Hahn watched them go before stalking to the nearest punching bag and releasing her frustrations out onto it.

"Well that's enough excitement for one day," Cristina said as Meredith came wandering over, pulling a flask from her pocket. Owen shook his head.

"You two drink too much you know that? It's bad for your health. Why don't you train for once? Go practice with the swords or something?"

Cristina and Meredith stared at him before they burst out laughing. Owen sighed and put his hands on his hips.

"I'm serious. I'll help you guys if that's what you want, I can show you a few basic moves that you'll be able to master before we go into the arena."

"Yeah, yeah sure," Cristina choked out, "Right after we go to confession and declare our sins to a priest."

"Yeah," Meredith added, "But first we're going to give up drinking."

"And sex."

"And swearing."

"Preach that shit!"

They cackled and high fived, before leaving the gym, swigging from the flask as they went. Owen watched them go before turning his focus back to Teddy. She was in what looked like a serious conversation with Arizona and he knew she'd tear his head off if he interrupted.

_Women_, he growled as he headed for the door.

* * *

It was the day of the Last Chance Ball and tensions were running high. Every tribute training, even Meredith and Cristina, though they put that down as wanting to look fabulous in their dresses. Teddy was still avoiding Owen, opting to hang out with Arizona and Alex and steering clear of any station Owen was on. He couldn't believe she was acting this way so close to the Games, all their years of training ruined because of a stupid crush.

Owen didn't understand Arizona and Teddy's relationship. They seemed to get along like they had known each other for years, when Owen was _sure _they had never met before. Nevertheless, Teddy seemed happy to spend her days with Robbins so Owen never got a chance to ask for an explanation.

Sloan had returned to the gym the day after Stark's announcement. He was a complete mess, sporting a black eye, multiple bruises and a bad limp. He insisted on training and had tried to throw a spear, resulting in a yelp of pain as the gashes on his back reopened, soaking his shirt in blood. Callie and Lexie had rushed over with towels and ice and attempted to mop him up.

The next day had been even more unusual. Sloan came limping into the gym again but this time walked straight over to Arizona Robbins. He grabbed her by the arms and demanded she give him something. She insisted she didn't have any, to which he called her a lying bitch. Callie and Addison came rushing over to separate them while they screamed profanities at each other. Callie took Arizona to the side and talked to her in a desperate murmur. They argued in whispers for a few moments before Arizona threw her arms into the air and stormed out the gym, shaking her head profusely. Callie watched her leave sadly, before returning to Mark's side.

Lexie had spent the past few days with an ice pack resting on Sloan's back, her head against his as they talked. Owen watched as they became closer, hardly ever going anywhere without one another. That was a dangerous relationship, Owen thought. It would only hurt more when one of them was killed.

Owen looked over to the wall where Cristina Yang was now standing. Meredith Grey was sitting next to Lexie, talking to her and Sloan, happy that she had someone else to talk to who didn't want to train. Owen wandered over to Cristina.

"Why do you two refuse to train properly?" he asked.

Cristina turned and looked at him for a moment, before returning her gaze to Meredith and Lexie, smiling sadly.

"Because we don't stand a chance."

"You don't know that. Anything can happen in the arena."

Cristina sighed and stood up straight.

"Actually, I do know that. Meredith has more of a shot then I do, but she's given up. Seeing her sitting with her sister so happy…" Cristina trailed off. Owen moved towards her.

"No, listen. Everybody has a chance okay? It doesn't matter which district you're from or how much training you've done, once you get out there everything will change."

Cristina looked up and met his eyes. She sighed loudly and crossed her arms.

"I just hope it's quick and painless, you know? Someone like Burke. He wouldn't mess around; it would be a clean cut."

Owen stared at her bemused. He couldn't believe how defeated she sounded. She wasn't even going to try and fight.

"So that's it then? You and Grey have just decided to sit around in the gym all day, messing around and not even bothering to pick up a sword?"

Cristina laughed and shook her head.

"We may be standing around but I wouldn't necessarily say we're messing around."

"That's sure what it looks like."

"Look I appreciate the pep talk, but you can leave now. We've decided to spend our last days doing things we actually enjoy rather than swinging some weapon around. I'm as ready as I need to be for the Games."

Cristina turned to leave. Owen reached out and grabbed her arm spinning her around.

"Prove it then. Tell me one thing that you've learnt since you've been here. How to drink a bottle of Vodka without throwing up? That doesn't count. Neither does learning how to stay drunk for five weeks in a row."

Cristina glared at him and Owen was certain she was about to walk away. However, she turned to face him and stared directly into his eyes before taking a deep breath.

"Your favourite weapon is knives. You like how small they are, allowing fast movements with your hands to make up for your slow footwork. Teddy is good with a bow but absolutely shit with a sword. She moves through trees quickly but has trouble moving on rocky terrain. Miranda Bailey hasn't touched a weapon since she's been here, sticking to the non-violent stations such as fire-starting and stitching. Derek Shepherd can fight using two short swords but is absolutely rubbish with every other weapon. Burke prefers to use spears over knives or swords. Arizona is deceivingly good at running through trees, which may be the reason why she and Teddy get along so well. She is useless with most weapons but will probably choose throwing knives as they are small and easy to carry."

Cristina ran out of breath and puffed for a few moments. Owen could only stare as she took in another big breath and continued,

"April Kepner can tie every knot imaginable, Alex Karev started out crappy wielding a sword but now he's easily the best here at it, Jo Wilson is an excellent climber and Addison Montgomery shoots a bow nearly as well as Teddy does. Richard Webber is fantastic at disguising himself using mud and leaves, George O'Malley is the fastest runner on all terrain and, despite what you think, Sloan and Torres are the best team here. Do you need me to go on?"

Owen stared at her with his mouth slightly open.

"I-uh, guess I owe you an apology."

"Save it, I already know I'm brilliant. It usually takes people awhile to realise just how amazing I am."

With that she strode over to Meredith and Lexie, bringing a flask to her lips and smirking mischievously back at Owen as she took a swig.

* * *

Owen knocked on Teddy's door.

"Come on Teds, we're going to be late. You saw what the Peace Keeper's did to Sloan and all he did was smart mouth them. Hurry up."

Owen fastened the cufflinks of his suit and straightened his tie. He hated wearing suits. They felt so restricting. He wished he could wear his training gear to this stupid ball, at least then he wouldn't feel like he was suffocating. He knocked again.

"Teddy, come on!"

Owen waited for a reply then sighed. She hadn't spoken a word to him all week and frankly he was sick of it. She was being totally unreasonable. It wasn't his fault he didn't want to focus on a relationship this close to the Games. Not that he didn't think of Teddy in that way, but he had to keep his priorities straight. Maybe if they both survived this thing they could give it a shot. He couldn't see why not. Owen's thoughts were interrupted by the door opening.

"Finally! We're going to be so-"

Owen stopped his sentence as his brain registered what Teddy was wearing. A long midnight blue gown fell to the floor, clinging to her body in all kinds of amazing ways. Her hair was hanging in soft ringlets and she had on just enough make-up to look nice, but not over the top. Owen's breath hitched in his throat.

"W-wow, Teds you look-"

"I know, I know, it's too much. The stupid woman from the Capitol wouldn't leave me alone so I just let her do her thing," Teddy interjected harshly.

"-beautiful," Owen finished.

A slight blush crept up Teddy's neck and she suddenly became interested in a speck of dust on her shoes.

"Oh well, um, thanks Owen. You don't look so bad either," Teddy replied, looking up and smiling at him for what felt like the first time in weeks. Owen beamed back at her and held out his arm. She wrapped her arm around his and they started towards the elevator.

"Let's get this over and done with," Teddy breathed out.

"You want to meet in the gym tomorrow morning?" Owen replied.

"Oh my God, yes."

And with that they headed downstairs.


	5. Bailey

**A/N: This chapter is important in quite a few ways. Pay attention to what each character is doing as we will revisit these situations in later chapters through some of the other Tributes POVs. These past few chapters have been setting up stories that will be pieced together as the Tributes battle through the arena. Don't forget to let me know what you think! Enjoy :)**

* * *

Miranda Bailey walked awkwardly into the ballroom and looked around. It was filled with citizens of the Capitol; hair fluffed up to ridiculous heights, layer upon layer of make-up caking their faces. It seemed as if they were in competition with each other in who could wear the most outrageous outfit. One woman wore a dress that must have been at least fifteen feet in diameter, knocking over displays and people alike as she strutted through the hall.

The ballroom had been adorned lavishly. Hundreds of decorations lined the walls, streamers hung freely from the dome ceiling and the floors shone from being waxed. Bailey couldn't even see the other end of the hall, but that may be due to her short stature rather than the immense size of the room.

Bailey had been squeezed into a dark green dress; hair in tight ringlets that she thought looked ridiculous and large gold hoop earrings that kept catching painfully in her curls. She could barely walk in the stupid thing and couldn't wait to get back to her room and slip into some cosy pajamas. The boy from her district, Charles Percy, came wandering up behind her, mouth open in awe.

"Man, we don't get parties like _this _at home. Check out the buffet! I wonder if they have those little chicken things. I'm going to check it out. You want anything?"

Bailey shook her head and watched him hurry over to the buffet table. He scanned the food quickly; whooping as he held up a piece of chicken like it was a Nobel Prize. She stood awkwardly by the door, searching for a familiar face. She hadn't really made any friends since she had been here. Not that she wasn't friendly, but because she had nothing to offer anybody. Alliances had begun forming left right and center but nobody wanted the girl who was good at stitching but clueless with a sword on their team. She had talked occasionally with Derek, Callie and Arizona, but only when they were at the same station together. Otherwise she sat alone, tying knot after knot or suturing fake cuts on rubber arms.

She decided to get herself a drink and headed towards the desired table. Ben Warren was helping himself to some punch and smiled as she approached. He held a freshly filled glass to her and she took it, thanking him. He filled a glass for himself and leant against the table next to her.

"Pretty impressive set up right?" Ben said.

Bailey nodded but didn't say anything.

"Absolutely rubbish in terms of a party though. I'd rather be asleep. Then again I don't want to miss the afters, now _that's _going to be a party," he added.

Bailey frowned. She wasn't aware that there was an after party. _Then again_, she thought, _if she had friends they would have told her about it_. She looked at Ben who was smiling at her genuinely. She figured she may as well try getting an invite to this party if this night was going to be worth anything.

"You are going to come, right?" he added.

"I was under the impression we were already _at _a party," Bailey replied, sounding a lot harsher than she meant. It wasn't Ben's fault she hadn't received an invite, but it still hurt a little. Ben looked at her, confused.

"Well yeah, I mean, I guess so. But we all had to come to this, didn't we? You're going to want to be at the after party though. All the Tributes are invited. It's at Two's apartment."

Bailey frowned.

"Two is hosting? That's a bit risky isn't it? Sloan's already been punished for disobeying the rules, what happens if he gets caught again?"

"What are they going to do? Send him into an arena to fight to the death with his friends. Oh wait a minute," Ben finished, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Well, I never received an invite," Bailey shrugged, "It would seem I've been left out of the, uh, _loop_."

Ben laughed, causing Bailey to raise an eyebrow in his direction. He stopped immediately.

"There were no invitations," he said quickly, "Was a word of mouth kind of party. And now you've heard it from my fantastic mouth, which means you're invited," he finished, smiling a dashing grin. Bailey rolled her eyes.

"Look I heard Sloan's speech to Stark," she replied. Ben's smile vanished to a look of confusion.

"I don't understand what you mea-"

"The Last Chance Ball," Bailey interrupted. "Last chance to get drunk and sleep around like some silly high school children or whatever. I appreciate your kindness but I'm not interested. I'm a 20 year old woman who doesn't feel the need to throw my legs open for any man who appears the slightest bit charming."

"So you admit I'm charming?" Ben said, winking

Bailey looked at him incredulously.

"Did you not hear what I just sai-"

"Yeah I heard you," Ben interrupted, "And I must say I'm a little offended. If I was intending to finish my night like that, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you. I took you as a classy woman who I could hold an intelligent conversation with. The only thing the guys want to talk about is sex and fighting and quite frankly I'm bored with those topics. The girl from my district, Cristina Yang? Well, she's intelligent enough, but she's always too drunk to hold a proper conversation with me. So that's why I want to talk and laugh and discuss things with you. _Those _were my intentions."

He crossed his arms and stared her in the eye as he finished, inviting her to argue with him. Bailey couldn't help but let a small smile fall on her lips, to which he returned quickly.

"Well then," Bailey finally said, "since you're such the _gentleman_, you can get me another drink and when you get back we can discuss politics and the economy and all other kinds of _intelligent _topics. Then we can go to Two's party together because there's no way I'm walking in with _him_."

She gestured towards the buffet table where Charles Percy was grabbing food with his hands, sauce smeared across his lips and chewing with his mouth open. Ben laughed and took her glass from her.

"It's a date."

* * *

The next four hours seemed to fly by as Bailey chatted to Ben. They covered every topic she could think of; from cars to nature, television shows to careers, medicine to house hunting. Ben seemed to be able to talk about anything, the smile never leaving his face. They had whispered rude things about Stark as he was saying his speech and found themselves watching the clock, waiting for four hours to pass so they could escape to the real party.

The Tributes had separated themselves from the rest of the guests; talking amongst themselves and avoiding any contact with anyone who looked like they belonged to the Capitol. As sponsors had been banned this year, there was no need to suck up to the wealthy and pretentious, which the Tributes were just fine with.

Ben had been telling her about how to cook the perfect roast chicken when Sloan had appeared next to them. He tapped Ben on the shoulder, giving him a quick nod before disappearing out the door. Ben glanced around the ballroom, checking to see if anyone was watching them. When he was sure they were safe, he held out his hand and she took it, only blushing slightly, as they walked quickly out of the ballroom.

As they entered the lobby, Bailey realized the rest of the Tributes were already making their way to the apartment floor. They were all standing around the elevators looking extremely suspicious. If a Capitol official saw them she knew their cover would be blown in an instant and no doubt they would pay for it in the arena. But no official came and Bailey eventually crammed herself into an elevator with Ben, Izzie, Denny, Meredith, Mark and Lexie. The doors shut and Meredith vomited, thankfully in one of the only spots unoccupied by feet. Bailey squealed but everyone else seemed too preoccupied to notice. Mark and Lexie were making out against the wall, Denny was whispering into Izzie's ear making her giggle like a five year old girl and Ben was _still _talking. Bailey tried to hold her breath as the elevator shot upwards and thanked God when the doors finally opened straight into the lounge of District Two's apartment. Everybody filed out of the elevator and Bailey saw Mark and Lexie head straight towards a bedroom.

_Coming from a rich district obviously had its perks_, Bailey thought as she looked around, _including one of the nicest apartment in the building_. The apartment was ginormous and the view was spectacular; looking out over the entirety of the Capitol and Bailey swore she could see District One. All the walls were glass, besides those for the bedrooms and bathroom, and the floor was made of white marble. A speaker system was booming so loudly she could barely hear her own thoughts and there was a table set up that was groaning under mountains of food and various brands of alcohol. Bailey watched as Yang squealed in excitement, running over to the table and grabbing a bottle of Tequila. She held it above her head, like Rafiki did to Simba, and scampered over to a stumbling Meredith. Ben hadn't been wrong, this was a _party_.

The elevator dinged open behind her and Callie Torres appeared, pulling a trolley of alcohol with her. She smiled at Bailey and yelled, "Figured we'd need it," before winking and heading towards the already packed drinks table. Jackson Avery came over and started talking to Ben, so Bailey gratefully slipped away to help Callie unload the drinks.

"You really think we'll need all these drinks? Surely we won't get through half of that," Bailey shouted. Callie nodded as she placed two bottles of Whiskey on the table.

"Yang and Grey will drink half of this by themselves," she yelled back, "Rather have too much than not enough anyway since it's our last chance and everything." They finished unloading the bottles and Callie poured them a shot of vodka each. Bailey felt like her throat was on fire as she downed hers, spluttering and coughing as it made its way through here system. She had never been a big drinker and this was why. She looked up and saw Callie put down the shot glass and start drinking straight from the bottle.

"Where did you get all this from anyway? Surely the Peace Keepers would have told all bottle stores to not sell to Tributes?" Bailey cried. Callie brought the bottle down from her lips and smiled at her.

"My father is a very powerful man," she replied, "He owns most of these businesses. I just told them who I was and no questions were asked." Callie winked and swapped the bottle of Vodka for a glass of wine. She looked around, scanning the room and frowned. "There are only 22 people here. There should be 23. Who's missing?"

Bailey looked around the room. The apartment was already a mess; empty bottles lay haphazardly on couches and food was spilt all along the floor. Bailey heard a smash and glanced over to the source of the noise. Richard Webber had shattered a bottle over his head, laughing as a clearly disappointed Derek Shepherd handed him ten dollars.

"Hahn, Burke, Clark and Karev are missing," she shouted back to Callie. Callie raised an eyebrow.

"You really thought we would invite Hahn, Burke and Clark? They would dob us in before the party even started. I can't lock our floor until Karev arrives. Come to think of it, I never saw him at the ball, did you?"

Bailey shook her head as the elevator doors behind her opened. Right on cue, there stood Alex Karev. He swayed a little as he stepped out of the elevator and his eyes were bloodshot. Jo Wilson went running over to him and threw her arms around his neck. Callie let out a sigh of relief as she walked to the stereo and paused the music.

"Where have you been?" Jo asked. Alex looked down squinting as if trying to see who it was. Eventually his brain seemed to whir in to gear and he smirked.

"These two chicks from the Capitol basically dragged me by my balls to their room. I just, uh, _finished _up," he replied. Jo's face fell as people hooted and wolf whistled.

"A threesome! Dude, nice!" Jackson Avery shouted and they fist bumped. A dejected Jo let her arms fall from around Alex's neck and stalked over to stand with April, tears shining in her eyes. Arizona walked over to Alex, whispering something in his ear. He nodded and her face broke out in a relieved grin. Bailey noticed Callie's face was slightly red as she cleared her throat.

"Everyone, listen up!" All the guests turned to face Callie and fell silent. "I'm going to lock our floor now so no one can enter or exit without this key card. It's not ideal, I know, but it's the best way to stop unwanted guests coming in without permission. Scan this against the panel once and the entire floor will unlock so _be careful_. Once you enter the elevator and press a button, the floor will automatically re lock itself, so make sure you're certain you want to leave before you do. Bathroom is down the hallway, last door on the left. If you need to throw up do it over the balcony. Mark and I both have keys so ask one of us when you're ready to leave. Actually, where is Mark?"

A few people sniggered. Owen jerked his thumb towards a closed door. Callie shook her head in mock disappointment.

"I should have known. Alright, that's all the announcements, let's party!"

This statement was followed by loud cheers and the music started up again, a thumping beat reverberating through the apartment. Bailey turned back to Callie.

"Won't Stark have a key to the floor?"

Callie smirked.

"Nope. Like I said, my father is a _very _powerful man. He bought this apartment as soon as I was announced as Tribute. Wanted to make sure I had everything I wanted." A slight blush formed on her cheeks. "Anyway, he said if anyone tried to enter my room while it was locked, he'd pull the sponsorship money he puts into these kinds of hotel chains. That's a lot of money, so they listen to him."

She swirled her drink and a slight smile crept on her face.

"My Dad's an ass, but he knows how to look after his family. He does what he thinks is, um, best for us. Even if we don't all agree." Her eyes seemed to look into the distance as she fell silent; seeming to forget Bailey was there. Bailey took a sip of her drink as she waited for her to continue. Callie shook her head out of its daze and smiled down at her.

"Anyway, I'll leave you to it; looks like someone else wants your attention." She nodded to Bailey's left and promptly strode over to where Arizona was standing talking to Alex.

Bailey looked in the direction Callie had pointed and saw Ben walking towards her, hands outstretched.

"Care to dance?"

Bailey looked at him in mock disgust before shaking her head.

"I don't dance. Especially not to _this _kind of music. Girl could get pregnant just listening to the lyrics," she replied as a string of foul words were rapped through the speakers. Ben laughed and nodded in agreement.

"Alright then. I have another conversation topic, if you don't mind me asking. I watched your reaping and saw you volunteer for a young girl. Was that your sister?"

Bailey felt her stomach sink. She stared at him for a few moments before clearing her throat.

"How about you continue telling me how to roast a perfect chicken instead?"

Ben nodded and Bailey poured herself a wine. If this was the topic they were going to talk about, she figured she may as well get a _little _drunk.

* * *

Bailey leant dangerously against the railing of the balcony as her head spun. She was _extremely _drunk. Ben had talked her ears off so she just kept drinking. And drinking. And drinking. She had enjoyed his company but a girl could only listen for so long. Thankfully, he had passed out on the couch about an hour ago and she had realized just how drunk she was. She figured air would help but all it seemed to be doing was make her head spin.

It was 3AM and the party was still in full swing. The dance floor was a mixture of horny tributes grinding on one another and drunken tributes dancing to their own tune. Derek and Meredith looked like they were having sex they were dancing so closely; Bailey couldn't tell whose hands were whose. Then again she was drunk. _Very _drunk.

Callie came walking onto the balcony. Bailey was about to tell her about how drunk she was feeling until she noticed she was pulling Arizona along behind her. Bailey panicked, not knowing what to do with herself so proceeded to take a sip of her disgusting drink and pretend to look at the view.

"Arizona," Callie slurred, not appearing to realize they had company, "I just wanted to-to say apologize. And sorry for the other day. In the gym. For the thing."

Arizona nodded, clearly tipsy but nowhere near as drunk as Callie.

"That's sweet. I don't forgive you. It was out of line and mean. We had been getting along s-so well and then you practically threw me under the bus and took that-that-that _manwhores _side."

Callie shook her head vigorously.

"He's my best friend, you know that. I was just looking out for him. He was in pain."

"I just wanted your support," Arizona replied, "You knew I was out of medicine but you still pushed it. You made me look like the bad guy. You were mean." Arizona closed her eyes and swayed on the spot a little. Callie stared at her, eyes unfocused as they stood in silence.

"I mean I get it," Arizona continued, "You guys are sleeping together. Whatever, I don't really care. Actually I do but that's not the poin-"

"For fucks sake, Arizona! How many times do I have to tell you we are _not _sleeping together!" Callie yelled, giving Bailey a fright and making her spill half her drink down her front. Arizona looked down at her shoes and didn't reply.

"I mean, I don't accuse you of sleeping with Karev! You're the only person he likes and there must be a reason for that!"

"_What!_ Callie, I'm gay!"

"Yep, well, that's beside the point."

"How!?"

"Because, it just is. And I'm not sleeping with Mark! He's head over heels for Lexie anyway. There's only one person here I want to sleep with and that's yo-"

"So you admit you'd sleep with Mark if he wasn't interested in someone else?" Arizona interjected.

"Oh my God, you are so fucking infuriating!" Callie yelled back. They were now standing a foot apart, staring each other dead in the eye. Bailey had heard more than enough and managed to sneak back inside without the pair of them noticing.

She stumbled over a passed out Izzie Stevens and sat on the couch letting out a sigh. She knew this party would be a bad idea. Tensions were high enough as it was but adding alcohol into the mix? That was asking for trouble. She watched a highly intoxicated Jo stagger over to Alex, professing her feelings for him. He didn't look like he was listening, instead watching Cristina dancing on one of the tables. She noticed him watching and invited him up, which he did hastily, leaving Jo standing dejectedly for a second time that night.

April was banging on the bathroom door, shouting words that Bailey never thought she would hear come out of April Kepner's mouth. The door flew open, Meredith and Derek stumbling out. Both of their faces were pink and they were panting. Derek's usually perfect hair was a mess and Meredith had her strapless dress on backwards. Nevertheless, she shouted something unintelligible and joined Alex and Cristina on the table. A furious Addison strode over to Derek and started screaming something at him. Bailey tuned out and focused on Owen and Teddy, who were talking in furious whispers before glancing around and heading into the kitchen.

_Good Lord_, Bailey thought, _do none of these people know how to hold a conversation?_ She looked over to where Ben was still sleeping and revoked that thought.

"It's sick, isn't it?"

Bailey looked for the source of the voice and saw George sitting next to her, plucking at a piece of thread on one of the cushions.

"What is?" Bailey replied. George gestured to their surroundings.

"This." he said, "Look at everyone, dancing and laughing and playing drinking games together. And in two days' time we will literally be trying to murder each other in cold blood. It just makes me sad to see people forming relationships that are destined for heartbreak." He finished with a shrug and continued to pick at the cushion.

Bailey stared at him. She had never talked to this boy before yet he was the one making the most sense out of all of them.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"Fourteen."

Tears sprung into his eyes and he looked away from her. Bailey shook her head sadly. Fourteen years old and he was being asked to head into an arena against people with years of experience and knowledge behind them. If by some chance he managed to win, he would face mental and emotional problems the rest of his life. This boy was doomed either way. Bailey reached out and grasped the hand that was fiddling with the cushion.

"It's okay to be scared, George. We all are, but people deal with their fear in different ways. Why do you think Meredith and Cristina haven't stopped drinking? They don't want to be in a stable place of mind because that's where the fear lays. Why do you think people like Owen and Teddy never seem to stop training? Because then all they have is their thoughts. We're all scared and tonight everyone is just trying to forget their fear for a few hours. Don't judge them too harshly."

George nodded and sniffed but stayed silent. They sat for a few moments; hands intertwined as they watched the Tributes party like their lives depended on it. Eventually, George wiped his eyes and rose to go to the bathroom. Bailey was ready to leave as reality hit her like a sledgehammer. One of these people was going to murder her and she no longer felt like being in their presence. She rose from the couch and let out a yawn she didn't realize she was suppressing.

The party was starting to slow down and Bailey took that as a cue to leave. She groaned as she remembered the stupid key card rule. Mark and Lexie hadn't emerged from his room the entire night so there was no way in _hell_ she was going into that sex chamber. She looked to the balcony expecting to see Callie and Arizona, but they had disappeared. She groaned loudly. Now that she had thought about leaving, it was all she felt like doing. She scanned the dance floor but couldn't see them anywhere. She closed her eyes._ If I had just had a heated argument with someone I liked_, Bailey thought,_ what would I be doing? _Well she knew that _she _would probably settle it right then and there, but most girls would probably run off and cry to their friends. _Might as well check the bedroom first, _her drunken brain thought. She walked to the door and opened it, walking in before registering the situation in front of her.

Arizona had Callie pinned against the wall; kissing her neck, her hand up Callie's dress. Callie's eyes were shut and her mouth was slightly open as she moaned out Arizona's name. Arizona groaned and started kissing her with fierce intensity.

"Oh my God!" Bailey gasped.

Callie and Arizona's heads whipped around. The stared at her in shock for a moment before Callie's expression changed to one of anger.

"What the hel- Bailey, get out!" Callie screeched.

"I am so, so sorry," Bailey replied quickly as she covered her eyes, "I just- key card! I need the key card!"

"On the table by the door," Callie yelled, "Take it and get out!"

Bailey turned around and peeked through her fingers, seeing the white key card and grabbing it before fleeing the room. She could have sworn she heard laughter as she slammed the door shut. She walked quickly towards the elevator, scanning the card and pressing the 'down' button. She dropped the card on the table nearest to her and waited. Charles Percy came sauntering over, claiming that 'District Tenner's needed to stick together.' Bailey ignored him and tried to focus on her breathing to stop herself from throwing up on her fellow 'Tenner'.

Suddenly, a shrill scream pierced the room. Bailey spun around to see Denny Duquette on the floor, seizing. Her brain immediately felt cleared as she rushed over to him. The other party goers gathered around in a circle, unsure of what to do. Bailey dropped to her knees and waited for him to stop seizing, feeling for a pulse as he stilled. Nothing.

"He hasn't got a pulse. We need to do CPR. Somebody call the medical staff and get them up here, stat!"

She began CPR until she realized nobody had moved. She looked up at their uneasy faces and felt angry.

"What are you doing?" she yelled, "this man needs urgent medical attention! Somebody call the damn medical team right now!"

She stared in bewilderment as they remained still, looking at one another. Finally, Jackson spoke up.

"Well I mean, we're all heading into the arena in two days and, well, you know, he would probably have died anyway." Murmurs of agreement followed this comment. "And we weren't meant to have a party or alcohol and that's kind of what we're doing right now. If we call the medical team, we're screwed." More murmurs of agreement. Bailey felt sick with anger.

"What, so we leave him to die? _You_ are not God, Avery; _you _do _not_ get to decide when a person lives or dies."

"That's not what I was say-"

But he was interrupted by the sound of elevator doors opening. The tributes all spun around as Stark walked in, flanked by five Peace Keepers.

A smirk formed on his face as he surveyed the room around him.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"


	6. Derek

"How are you feeling?"

Derek removed the ice pack from his eye and looked up. Addison was leaning in the doorway, arms crossed and a look of concern on her face. They were inside their apartment, making final preparations before they headed into the arena. The plane was coming to pick the tributes up in twenty minutes and Stark had sent everyone back to their rooms. No one had argued.

Derek stood slowly from the bed he had sat on, wincing as his bruised ribs shifted uncomfortably under his skin. Addison walked towards him, handing him another ice pack which he placed hastily against his ribs. He thanked her and walked carefully to the chair he had thrown his jacket over.

"I'll be fine," he replied as he pulled his jacket on, dropping both ice packs in the process. Swearing, he bent down to pick them up only to yelp in pain and clutch his ribs. Addison hurried forward and picked them up for him.

"No you're not. You shouldn't have said anything Derek, I could have handled it."

"Yeah, well, I did and now I get to pay for it. Go tell all your friends that chivalry isn't dead," he snarled back.

"Don't snap at me, I didn't ask you to jump forward like that. We're heading into the arena in less than an hour and you can barely walk let alone swing a sword."

"Twin short swords."

"What?"

"My weapon of choice is twin short swords. It's basically the only thing I've been practicing with since we've been here. And in order to use them, Addison, I generally have stretch out which I can't do since it feels like somebody is shooting me in the _fucking _chest every time I move. So yeah, sorry if I sound a bit pissed off but I'm not exactly feeling fantastic at the moment."

Addison wringed her hands.

"I never thanked you for defending me," she said quietly.

"And you're not going to."

The sound of elevator doors shutting sounded through their apartment. Derek frowned and followed Addison out of his bedroom to see who was there. The entrance way was empty except for a small package wrapped hastily in a brown paper bag. Derek picked it up and noticed two words written hastily on the outside.

_Apply generously._

"What is it?" Addison asked. Derek didn't answer but opened the container to find a small amount of pink looking goo on the inside, enough to spread across his ribs. Addison stepped forward and her eyes open wide.

"Derek that's-that's Airwillow. That medicine is _extremely _rare. Who's it from?"

Derek shrugged and pulled his jacket and t-shirt off, beginning to apply the medicine to his bruised torso. Immediately he felt relief and he let out a sigh of satisfaction. He didn't know much about Airwillow, only that it could heal any wound in a matter of days. He was still feeling uncomfortable but the pain had lessened dramatically. He dabbed some on his eye before turning to Addison.

"Come on, we're going to be late."

Derek strode towards the elevator, feeling considerably more confident. Addison followed behind him, a hundred questions running through her mind about this mystery gift giver. Could it be Meredith Grey? _No, _Addison thought, _it requires a sharp brain to make such a complicated medicine and the only thing Meredith Grey's brain had been lately was intoxicated._ She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor, turning to Derek.

"You know, that medicine takes a few days to completely heal you. If we were in an alliance I could help you until you feel 100%."

"No alliance Addison. I already told you that I'm doing this alone and I'm sticking to that. I would only be a hindrance to you when I'm like this."

"Stop being so stubborn, Derek. I know we haven't been getting along that well, but things change in the arena. Together, we might be able to win."

"Addison, I said no," Derek snapped. She fell quiet and leant against the wall, glaring at him as the elevator zoomed downwards. Derek sighed. He knew he was being harsh but he couldn't help holding a little resentment towards her. She was right; she didn't ask him to defend her but he had had a brain explosion and thought that Stark would listen to him. What a mistake that had been.

Derek watched the numbers on the elevator panel light up as they passed each floor. Everything was a mess. 22 tributes were heading into the arena on a handicap, while three others were advantaged in an unfair way. But that was what Stark had decided and no one was arguing with him. The number two lit up on the panel and the doors swung open. Callie and Mark stood before them, looking weary but determined. Mark nodded at them as he entered the elevator, Callie shuffling in after him staring at her feet, her usual confident demeanour absent. Derek tried to catch her eye but she seemed fixated with her watch and didn't look up. Their apartment was a mess; broken glass was spread along the floor as one of the walls had shattered. The couches were ripped with shards of glass sticking out of them and the speaker system was smashed to bits. That was where it had all started, where the Games had taken a dramatic turn before they had even begun. Derek sighed again and thought back over the last 48 hours.

* * *

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Nobody spoke. Nobody moved except for Bailey, who was still doing CPR, a look of panic on her face. Stark glared at them as his face began to grow red with rage. Finally, Jackson cleared his throat and spoke, his voice shaky.

"Sir, Denny collapsed and hasn't had a pulse for a few minutes now. He needs urgent medical treatment. We were just about to call the medical team up here to help him before you arrived."

Bailey turned and glared so fiercely at Jackson that her eyes only appeared as slits. He avoided eye contact with her and continued staring at Stark.

"The reason for that Mr Avery may be because he isn't meant to consume alcohol with the medication he is on. Did you think of that too, while he convulsed on the ground? Or were you hoping he would die to save you having to kill him in the arena?" Stark replied. Jackson stared at the ground and didn't speak.

Stark snapped his fingers and two Peace Keepers ran forward, shoving Bailey to the side and lifting Denny by the armpits. They dragged him into the elevator, pushed a button and were gone. One of the bedroom doors opened and Mark and Lexie walked out, holding hands.

"Hey, what's going on?" Mark said. He surveyed the room before seeing Stark, his face immediately paling. Stark sneered in his direction.

"Mr Sloan, I should have known _you _would be the host of this party. How nice of you to join us."

Mark opened his mouth to retort but Lexie grabbed his arm, shaking her head vigorously, and he closed it. The other bedroom door flew open and Arizona came storming out, tears in her eyes. She stopped abruptly as she took in the scene around her. Callie came running out after her, desperation apparent on her face.

"Arizona, wai-"

The words stopped coming out of her mouth as she saw Stark. Fear crossed over her face, followed by confusion, then anger.

"What the hell is going on here? You know the rules Stark, you're not allowed to barge in when the doors locked" she snarled.

"Yes, I am well aware of that Miss Torres. And you will refer to me as sir you disrespectful brat. Luckily for me, the door _wasn't _locked so I was able to walk in here free from concern."

Callie spun around and strode towards Mark.

"What the hell Mark," she hissed, "Who did you give your key card too?"

"No one!" he replied, "It's been in my room all night, nobodies touched it!"

"Well that can't be true Mark, since mines been in _my _room all night too. Nobody came to get it apart from-"

A look of realisation dawned on Callie's face as she turned slowly to face Bailey, who was staring intently at her shoes. Stark laughed.

"Well it seems the mystery is solved. I guess I should thank you, Miranda. If it weren't for your foolishness we would still be standing in the lobby."

Stark began pacing back and forth.

"Did you really think we wouldn't notice nearly _all _of our tributes leaving at once? You didn't think we would have lookouts around the building making sure you didn't leave to break the rules elsewhere? We were originally tipped off by an uh _anonymous _source that a party may be occurring and it turns out she was right. We checked all of your rooms to find none of you asleep and our spy in the lobby told us none of you had left. Which only left the option of the party being in _this _apartment. At first I thought to myself, surely not. Surely, Mark Sloan wouldn't be so _stupid _as to break the rules _again _when he had been issued a warning and a clear message that if he defied us once more, it would result in a grim circumstance. So we waited and sure enough, the floor was left unlocked long enough for us to arrive and catch you all in the act. Your trusting of your fellow tributes is about to cost you dearly, Mr Sloan."

He snapped his fingers and two of the remaining Peace Keepers ran forward.

"Say goodbye to your friend, ladies and gentleman. I'm afraid he won't be making it to the Games."

Callie darted forward and stood in front of Sloan before they could reach him.

"Wait! Stop!" she yelled, "Mark didn't throw the party, I did! He knew nothing about it until all the guests arrived. If you're going to punish anyone, it should be me."

Mark whispered something that sounded like 'your father' in her ear and she nodded. Stark's face grew redder as he glared at her.

"You and I both know that's not going to happen Miss Torres. Now move aside-"

"No, I'm not moving anywhere. You lay a hand on him and I think my father will be interested to hear why my best friend is not in the arena with me." She stood firm and glared him in the eye.

Derek glanced around at the other tributes and was relieved when they looked as confused as he felt. What was Callie doing threatening Stark with her Dad? Stark was their mentor and had power over these kinds of decisions. Sure, Callie's father may be upset that his daughter lost her friend but what was he supposed to do? Stride into the Capitol and waggle his finger at him?

Yet, Stark still stood rooted to the spot, a war seeming to be fought in his head. Finally, he beckoned for the Peace Keepers to retreat. Callie relaxed and some color returned to Mark's face.

"Alright then Miss Torres. That's fine. But I will be reporting this to the President_ and _your father."

"He won't care."

"I believe your father practices Catholicism, is that right?"

"Catholics are allowed to party too. And I don't see what that has to do with anything, _sir_."

"Oh, it doesn't. Not really. Except I think he will be less than impressed when he discovers his daughter is having secret rendezvous with another woman. Don't you?"

Stark grinned maliciously as Callie's face drained of color.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do. Next time you decide to kiss someone in public place, such as the _hotel kitchen_, make sure there are no cameras around. I think your father will find that footage _very _interesting. Try to threaten me again Miss Torres, and that tape might accidently slip into his mailbox. Then you may as well kiss a certain blonde somebody goodbye."

A look of horror dawned on Callie's face as she looked at Arizona, who appeared just as terrified. Stark ignored both of them and turned to face the rest of the tributes.

"So, what should your punishment be then? Should I discipline you altogether or separately? In the arena or right now?"

He walked over to Addison, who was standing next to Arizona, and grabbed both of them by their chins. They both gasped, trying to escape from his hold but to no avail.

"Look at you two. So pretty. Wouldn't it be a shame if those faces were ripped to pieces by a strategically placed wolf?"

"Back the hell off! They've done nothing wrong you asshole!" Derek shouted. Before he knew what he was doing, Derek had run forward, sensing someone running behind him. Two Peace Keepers met him before he could reach Stark, one punching him in the eye and the other slamming his gun into his ribcage. The force of the attack sent Derek flying backwards into the stereo system, slamming it into one of the glass walls causing it to shatter. Derek covered his head as tiny bits of glass rained down around him.

"Anyone else!?" Stark roared. The group stayed silent. He let go of Arizona and Addison and they both stepped back, tears in their eyes.

"That's what I thought," he sneered as he straightened his tie. "You are all to be in your own rooms in _exactly _five minutes time. If you are not there in five minutes time, the price will be your life. I will announce your punishment tomorrow morning for attending this party and you will not complain."

With that, he and the remaining Peace Keepers strode into the elevator and the doors shut. Owen and Mark ran forward to lift Derek out of the glass and he winced, his ribs throbbing with pain. Everyone else stayed silent as they processed what had just occurred. Derek tried to breathe through the aching and looked up to where Callie was standing, fear etched onto her face.

"Who's your father Callie?" he breathed out, clutching his ribs. Everyone turned to face her, the same question on their lips. She stared at Derek for a moment before dropping her gaze to the ground. She shrugged.

"No one. Just a businessman. You guys should get to bed, you heard what Stark said." She turned on her heel and strode into her bedroom, slamming the door. The tributes silently filed into the elevator, one district at a time. When it was their turn, Addison helped Derek in and pressed the button labelled '8'. Derek glanced back once more into the ruined apartment, a nagging feeling telling him that Callie wasn't being entirely truthful.

* * *

The next day, Stark called a meeting with the tributes in the gym. He stood on his usual bench, a piece of paper clutched in his hand and a smug grin plastered on his face. He cleared his throat as they gathered around him.

"Before I announce your punishment for last night's misdemeanour, I regret to inform you that Dennison Duquette passed away last night. Feel free to blame yourselves as it was the reaction his body had to alcohol that caused it," he finished, a fake look of sadness on his face. Derek looked around and found on Izzie. Her eyes were red and puffy and her mouth wobbled as she fought back tears. Derek dropped his gaze back to the ground.

"Now, for the serious matters. To fill those in who didn't break the rules last night-"

He nodded towards Hahn, Burke and Clark; all sporting looks of feigned ignorance on their faces.

"- the other tributes decided to throw a party which included the use of alcohol and drugs. They had been told previously that this was banned but continued to act in a defying manner."

The three of them shook their heads in disappointment and Derek gritted his teeth. He would bet everything he owned that they had been Stark's so called 'lookouts'.

"So," Stark continued, "The punishment is as follows. All tributes who did _not _attend the party will be given a ten minute head start in the arena."

A roar of outrage broke out among the crowd, drowning out Stark's voice. Derek couldn't believe this. By getting a head start, they would be able to pick any weapon without fear, search through the bags to get materials they wanted and could set up ambushes if they desired. Stark continued as if he couldn't hear them, yelling the remaining punishment.

"Also, tributes who did _not _attend the party will be told the kind of terrain and set up the arena is shaped into. The Gamemaker and I have agreed that this is suitable punishment for those who defied our specific orders."

A fresh roar of horror ripped through the crowd and Derek joined in with the yelling. Stark was basically handing the Games to Hahn, Burke and Clark on a plate; it was _beyond _unfair.

"This is bullshit!"

"You can't do this!"

"You're just upset we didn't invite you!"

"Enough!" Stark roared. "One more word and I'll let the Peace Keepers deal with you!"

The crowd quietened to a begrudging silence.

"Good. See, you're finally starting to learn how to obey those above you. Now, the last order of business; Torres, Hahn and Shepherd, you are the last three to have a private lesson with me. Be outside my office at 3PM sharp."

Stark hopped down from the bench and strode out of the gym. The tributes immediately burst into furious discussion as soon as his balding head disappeared out the door. Derek groaned; he had forgotten about the private lesson with Stark and he highly doubted it was going to be pleasant. He watched as the other tributes debated the unfairness of the situation intensely, glancing over to Hahn, Burke and Clark who were all smiling but staying silent. He couldn't bear to look at them any longer, deciding to try and rest before Stark's lesson. He told Addison his intentions before walking slowly from the gym, gripping his ribs.

* * *

Derek arrived outside Stark's office at 2:55PM and sat down. Callie had her back to him, not noticing his arrival, as she spoke to someone on the phone in an angry voice. He tried to not eavesdrop on her conversation, but this was difficult as she stood only feet away.

"Listen, I know we weren't meant to have one, but it just happened. Don't you have the power to revoke those stupid rules? It's unfair!" she said, speaking quickly. She listened and her frown deepened.

"Yes, I'm aware of my situation, but they leave me at a disadvantage too. What happens if those three psychopaths decide to stick around with all their weapons and just drop everyone like flies as soon as the barriers drop?"

She sighed.

"Yes, I know I know. You've told me this a hundred times, Dad."

Derek looked up, his interest in her conversation rising. Derek hadn't had the chance to speak to her since the party and was still curious as to who her father really was. Tributes weren't allowed to speak to any family members as soon as they arrived at the hotel, yet here she was with her own _cell phone_. Why was Callie receiving so much special treatment?

Her father spoke for a few minutes and her expression slowly turned to one of fear. Finally, she spoke.

"I-I don't know who told you that but it's not true. How-how could you think that? The only person I've spoken to since I've been here is Mark, like we discussed. There's nobody else," she finished, her face completely white.

"Listen, I've got something I need to ask you," she continued as she turned around. "In the arena-"

She fell silent as her eyes met Derek's, her mouth falling open in shock.

"I've got to go," she said quickly and pressed the 'end' button. She sat down in the chair opposite Derek, wringing her hands.

"That your Dad?"

"None of your business, Shepherd. I thought you were in Stark's office, you shouldn't eavesdrop on people like that."

"What does your Dad really do, Callie? Why does he have so much influence?"

Callie looked away from him and didn't reply. Derek knew it wasn't his place to prod at this subject but he felt like something wasn't quite right. Her father knew things that he shouldn't know and had power that even Stark didn't possess. Surely he wasn't just an ordinary businessman; they had no power over the Games. Unless…

Derek's mouth dropped open as realisation dawned on him. He stood up quickly, startling Callie and stretching his ribs painfully but he didn't care. Callie looked at him and her expression saddened as she understood Derek's comprehension. She couldn't look him in the eye.

"Callie…no…"

"I didn't do anything, Derek. It was all his idea, I had no choice and you have to understand that!"

Derek stared at her, gobsmacked. It all made sense; Stark backing down when she mentioned her father, her horrified expression when Stark threatened to tell her father about Arizona, the ability to get anything she wanted by just mentioning her last name.

"Callie," Derek said slowly, "Is your Dad-"

"Derek Shepherd."

Derek turned around to see Stark standing in his doorway, arms crossed. Hahn was walking out, a confident grin on her face. She had just been told everything there was to know about the arena. Stark beckoned him inside.

"Hurry up boy, I don't have all day."

Derek barely heard him as he walked into Stark's office. He felt numb with his realisation.

"So, our very own knight in shining armour," Stark said as they sat down. The brave young man who rushed forward to save the damsels in distress only to get his ass kicked." Stark sat back and let out a laugh. Derek stayed silent.

"Not in the laughing mood are we? Fine. What's your strategy?"

"Like I'd tell you."

"You're smart mouth will get you in trouble one day, boy. To be honest, I couldn't give a damn what your strategy is. I've seen your type before, they never last."

Derek nodded, barely listening to Stark. Stark shook his head in disgust and pointed to the door.

"Get the hell out of my office; you're a waste of my time."

Derek rose from his chair and began walking quickly to the door.

"Oh and Mr Shepherd?" Stark called out. Derek turned slowly, his hand on the door handle.

"Good luck. You're going to need it."

Stark grinned sadistically as Derek strode out, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

The tributes walked silently off of the plane. They had each been allocated a room to wait in until it was time to stand on their platforms and rise into the arena. Derek spotted the blonde head he was looking for and rushed forward, tapping Arizona on the shoulder. She turned and gave him a nervous smile.

"Arizona, I just wanted to say thanks for the medicine. I saw you give some of this stuff to Karev in the first week and I really appreciate it. Also, be really careful in there okay? There's something going on with-just things aren't exactly as they seem," he finished quickly. Arizona gave him a puzzled look.

"I didn't give you any medicine, Derek. And what do you mean things-"

But she was cut off as a Peace Keeper pushed her towards her room, only being able to wave farewell, leaving Derek feeling more confused than he already was.

* * *

The arena was set up as if a triangle were lying flat on the ground. As one got closer to the point, the terrain rose and they would discover they were actually walking up a mountain. As the tributes looked up, they could see the odd cave peeking through the trees; a perfect place to hide. The peak of the mountain could only be seen if one squinted. The beginning platforms were at the base in a large field with the Cornucopia. The field was surrounded by trees and Derek could hear a river running somewhere.

22 tributes stood on their platforms; seething with anger as three others wandered casually around the Cornucopia. The ten head start minutes had just begun and Hahn, Burke and Clark were looking lazily through bags as they chose which items would be useful to them. Eventually, Burke had chosen a spear and a sword, his rucksack satisfyingly packed as he ran towards the forest. Hahn had chosen a sword and throwing knives, following Burke in the same direction.

Clarke, however, was taking his time. He pocketed some throwing knives and swung a dagger around lazily before tossing it to the side and picking up the only set of twin short swords. He threw his backpack over his shoulders and walked towards Derek's platform, smirking.

"What a shame, there's only one set of these babies. They are your weapon of choice after all, but I think I'll keep them."

Derek growled. Clark laughed, quickly pulling one of the knives out of his pocket and throwing it with all his force at Derek. It ricocheted off of the barrier that protected his platform and Derek flinched, knowing it would have pierced his brain had the protection not been there. Clark laughed again.

"You know what pretty boy? I think I'll just wait here. Wait until the barrier protecting you drops and then stab you right in the heart with one of these, what do you think? Think that's a good idea?"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a person on the platform next to Derek said; Owen Hunt. Clark hesitated; he wasn't sure whether Hunt and Shepherd were actually friends, or whether Hunt was just saying this to make sure Clark didn't get to him too. He would love to be the one to kill Shepherd but to have to fight Owen Hunt as a consequence wasn't a risk Clark was willing to take. Grunting, he sheathed the short swords and ran into the forest, disappearing as the holographic clock showed ten seconds remaining.

"Thanks," Derek said.

"No problem," Owen replied, with a smile.

5…4…3…2…1

A hooter sounded throughout the arena and the barriers around 22 tributes dropped. Derek leapt off his platform and began running towards the Cornucopia, willing to risk his life to get some crucial items. Owen cut him off, slamming his shoulder into Derek's torso, making him fall to the ground in pain. Were it not for the medicine he had taken, he doubted he would be able to get up so quickly and continue towards his destination; which was now surrounded by fighting tributes.

The Games had officially begun.


	7. Let the Games begin

**A/N: We're going to see a few different POV's in this chapter as the tributes begin the Games. Get ready to say goodbye to a few people!**

Owen stood on his platform, watching as Hahn and Burke ran into the forest. Clark was swishing a dagger through the air with enthusiasm before throwing it to the ground as he spied a weapon he liked more. Owen looked around the semi-circle of platforms as he searched for Teddy, starting from the dais opposite him, where Meredith waited looking terrified. Next to her was Callie who was communicating to Mark using hand signals. Next to Callie stood April, who had her eyes closed and looked like she was praying. George was next to her, face pale as a sheet, followed by Richard, Bailey and then Teddy.

Teddy looked focused on something near the Cornucopia. Owen followed her line of vision and realized she was gazing at the bow and arrows. He stared as hard as he could at her, trying to catch her attention, but she was too focused on the weapon to notice him.

They had discussed their tactics back at their apartment; run straight towards any trees they could see and forge their own weapons as soon as they escaped from the crowd. Running for a weapon in the Cornucopia was suicide and they hadn't spent years training just to die from making a poor judgement call.

Yet, Teddy was staring so intently at the bow that Owen felt uneasy. He needed to get her attention; to remind her of their plan. He became aware of someone talking near him and he turned his attention away from Teddy to see Clark taunting Derek. This could be the opportunity he was looking for.

"You know what pretty boy? I think I'll just wait here. Wait until the barrier protecting you drops and then stab you right in the heart with one of these, what do you think? Think that's a good idea?" Clark said.

_Perfect, _Owen thought.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said loudly. His voice caught Teddy's attention and she turned to look at him. He stared intently at her, hoping that she realized the warning was directed towards her and not Clark. Teddy understood the message and her face hardened. She nodded slowly but then returned her focus back to the bow.

"Thanks," Derek said.

"No problem," Owen replied and forced a smile.

_What the hell are you thinking Teddy_, Owen thought.

The hooter sounded and Owen leapt off his platform and began running towards Teddy. He noticed Derek sprinting right behind him and dropped his shoulder, slamming it into his damaged ribs. They were in the arena now; it was kill or be killed.

Just as Owen dreaded, Teddy was running full speed towards the bow and arrows, which were lying just outside of the Cornucopia. Owen let out a frustrated yell and changed his line, running in the same direction as Teddy. She was being an idiot and the adrenaline had gone to her head but he wasn't going to let her die because of it. A sword lay twenty feet to his right and he ran to grab it, punching Charles hard in the face when he saw him running for it as well. Owen scooped up the sword; its heavy weight feeling wrong in his hands after practicing solely with knives the past few weeks.

He glanced up at the other tributes as someone yelled out. Callie was facing away from him, a throwing knife protruding from her back. Ben was sprinting into the forest, looking over his shoulder for pursuers. Erica seemed to appear from nowhere as she swung her sword, Ben never seeing who decapitated him as his head thudded to the ground. Erica turned and sprinted into the depths of the trees now that her surprise ambush was complete. Meredith and Cristina were running into the forest only thirty feet away; a backpack slung over Meredith's shoulder and her hand gripping Cristina's.

_So they haven't given up after all_, Owen thought.

He saw Teddy reach the bow and arrows, scooping them up and sprinting to the forest with no one near her. Relief washed over Owen and he began to run after her. He saw a flash of silver out of the corner of his eye and ducked just in time, as Sloan swung his sword where Owen's head had been just a moment ago.

Owen rolled along the ground and sprung to his feet, gripping his sword in front of him. They made eye contact for the briefest moment, understanding passing between them.

_Kill or be killed._

Mark swung his sword in a wide arc and metal clashed against metal. Owen countered and sent a jab towards Marks ribs which he dodged with ease. Owen wasn't used to using such a long weapon and it was showing in his technique. If this were a battle with knives, Mark would have been lying dead on the ground already. But with swords, they were on an even playing field.

Owen found himself walking slowly backwards as they fought furiously, attacking and defending in swift movements. An arrow landed inches away from Sloan's boot and he leapt back a few feet in surprise. He called out for Callie and she came sprinting towards them. Owen knew he had no chance against both of them so he resorted to drastic measures. He threw his sword at Mark, causing him to leap back another few feet to dodge it. Owen darted forward, grabbing the arrow from the ground before spinning on his heel and running towards Teddy. A flash of silver passed so close to his face he could have sworn it shaved off some of his stubble, the knife landing a few feet in front of him. He bent down, pulling it from the ground and continued sprinting to Teddy. She nodded as he came close and they both ran into the forest; climbing the closest tree and hiding amongst the foliage.

Owen peeked through the leaves and saw Callie and Mark walking slowly back towards the Cornucopia. He spun around to face Teddy.

"What the hell was that Teddy? Are you insane! You could have been killed!" Owen whispered furiously.

"I know, I just had a brain explosion and couldn't stop thinking about getting the bow. I'm not sorry that we've got it though and look." She took the bag containing the arrows off her shoulder and pulled out a knife, eleven inches long and gleaming. She smiled as she saw Owen's eyes light up.

"See," she continued, "now we don't have to make our own. Owen, we have our weapons, it's the most perfect start we could ask for."

Owen nodded as he felt his new knife, light and brittle, exactly the way he liked them. His earlier anger vanished as he put the knife through his belt buckle.

"You're right. We should get moving now, you never know who might be around," he replied. He made to start running but Teddy grabbed his arm.

"Owen, we have to wait for Arizona. I promised her she could be in our alliance, we talked about this the other night."

Owen's good mood vanished as quickly as it arrived, his stomach clenching in anger. He turned away from Teddy and glared into the leaves. He was hoping in all the excitement she would forget about that foolish promise, but no joy. Teddy poked her head through the leaves. The field was nearly empty now. Mark, Callie and Lexie were inside the Cornucopia, sorting through the items and choosing their weapons. Teddy spotted Arizona on the outskirts of the forest, talking in a hurried manner to Alex. A dead Richard lay next to them. Teddy whistled their agreed signal, a robin chirp, and Arizona's head spun around. Teddy beckoned her quickly and Arizona nodded; saying a few more words to Alex before hugging him and running towards Teddy.

"Hey," she said breathlessly as she climbed the tree. Teddy smiled and hugged her, Owen merely nodded.

"We want to climb up the mountain and find a safe cave to set up camp in," Owen said. "It's too dangerous staying down here. I'll run along the ground beneath you, I'll never be able to keep up with you two in the trees. Let's go."

Arizona and Teddy nodded as Owen dropped to the ground. He gave them the thumbs up and the unexpected alliance began their ascent.

* * *

Callie stood waiting on her platform and gestured with her hands to Mark. She was aware that others could see her but doubted they would be able to crack their code.

Pointing at his chest. Putting her fists on top of each other and swinging them. Gesturing to the other tributes. Pointing to herself. Pointing to the Cornucopia. Looking around. Making an explosion motion with her fingers. Mark nodded to show he received the message.

_You grab a sword and take down any tributes you can. I will go into the Cornucopia and make sure nobody else tries to get inside to set up camp. I'll look out for any ambushes._

The hooter sounded and Callie began running towards the Cornucopia. She knew that many of the tributes wouldn't go near that area, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Once inside, she began searching through the weapons, looking for a sword or dagger she could use against anyone who tried to attack her. A sharp pain suddenly shot through her back and she cried out.

Spinning around she saw Lauren standing twenty feet away, her teeth bared as she threw another knife. Callie dodged the attack and grabbed the closest weapon; a spear. She ran forward a few steps and launched it as hard as she could, straight into Lauren's heart. Lauren gasped as she tried to no avail to extract the weapon from her chest. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell backwards, dead before she hit the ground. Callie felt herself start to shake as the adrenaline and shock rushed through her. She barely had time to gather herself before-

"Callie!"

She spun around to see Mark in a fierce sword fight with Owen, an arrow near his boot. She grabbed a sword off the ground and began sprinting towards Mark, noticing Teddy standing fifty feet away with her bow at the ready. Owen threw his sword at Mark, grabbing the arrow from the ground and sprinting away just as Callie arrived.

"Quick, Callie! Get me a knife!" Mark shouted.

Callie searched the ground frantically but it was bare. Her memory triggered and she reached behind her, pulling the knife from her back with a grunt and handing it to him. Mark threw it as hard as he could, sacrificing accuracy for speed. The knife just missed Owen's head, skimming past his face and landing on the ground in front of him. Mark cursed loudly at his carelessness; it was a mistake that could come back to bite him. He began to run after Owen but Callie grabbed his arm.

"Mark, wait! If we chase after him somebody else could come and take control of the Cornucopia. Then we'd be left with nothing, it's not worth it."

Mark glared after Owen but nodded, knowing she was right. They watched Owen and Teddy disappear into the trees before slowly turning around and heading back to the Cornucopia. Mark turned to Callie, frowning.

"Callie, how did you get that knife?"

"Oh, Lauren threw it at me while I wasn't looking. She literally stabbed me in the back."

"So you just _pulled _it out of your flesh."

"You said you wanted a knife!"

"You're the most badass chick I know."

"You're just figuring that out now?"

They both laughed but Callie stopped when she noticed big brown eyes staring at her from inside the Cornucopia. Lexie was piling all the remaining weapons together, hoping to be a helpful team member.

"I got to say Mark; I'm surprised she's still alive," Callie said while they were still out of ear-shot.

"I told her to hide in the Cornucopia since I knew you would be standing guard so of course she survived. Where's California? I thought she was going to join our posse."

"She bailed. Happened at the after party."

"Wait, what!? And you didn't think to tell me this? Callie, you told her what our strategy was, she could be leading _anyone _here right now!"

"She wouldn't do that Mark."

"You don't know that. The Games change people for the worse."

They arrived at the Cornucopia and Lexie sent them both a nervous smile. Mark walked over and they hugged for a few moments, Callie only feeling a tiny bit of jealousy towards Lexie's loyalty. Eventually, they let go and Mark spoke.

"Lex, Callie just told me that Texas bailed on us. She knew our strategy was to hide out in here so I think we should move on. Search the backpacks and take everything we need then set it all on fire so no one else can get anything. What do you guys think?"

Callie and Lexie both nodded and they began probing through the remaining items, keeping an eye out for any tributes wanting to unleash a surprise attack. They filled up three backpacks with everything they needed; medicine, water bottles, throwing knives, food, suture kits, rope, compass', blankets, matches, extra clothing, torches and hats.

They threw their backpacks onto their shoulders and picked up their weapons; Mark and Callie took a sword and dagger each while Lexie opted for a knife. They stacked the remaining items into a pile, hiding the left over weapons at the bottom. Mark lit a match and set some paper on fire, which eventually travelled up the stack and burnt everything to dust.

The smoke was bound to attract someone so they ran quickly to the outskirts of the forest and began trekking up the mountain. Callie took the lead as they walked. After ten minutes she turned around to see Mark and Lexie holding hands and she scoffed.

"If I walk in on you two doing it I might slit my own throat."

"Looks like you're a dead girl walking then," Mark replied with a smirk.

"Oh, gross."

"You're just jealous that you don't have your girl here to do that with."

"She's not _my_ girl. And yeah, I am jealous."

"Don't worry Torres. If we run into her I'll cut off her head and give it to you. That can be your closure."

Lexie clipped Mark over the ear, shaking her head in disbelief at his ignorance. Callie stayed silent and turned her back to them, hoping they hadn't noticed the tears in her eyes.

* * *

As soon as the hooter sounded, Bailey had ran. Away from the Cornucopia, away from the backpacks and most _certainly _away from the other tributes. She reached the edge of the forest and kept on running until she felt like she was about to collapse.

Bailey cursed her short legs for not being able to get her anywhere quickly and slowed down to a walk, looking over her shoulder every few seconds. She knew that most of the other tributes had run towards the Cornucopia, hoping to get a weapon or useful item without the loss of their life. She didn't know how many had been successful.

She continued walking for another hour, meeting no one but curious squirrels as she made her way up the mountain. She had just begun thinking about finding a cave to set up camp in for the night when the bush next to her shook violently. Bailey froze, understanding that squirrels couldn't make that kind of ruckus.

George came bursting through the leaves, a cut on his face and panting heavily. He stopped dead when he saw Bailey, holding his sword up in defence. He glanced behind him, shook his head and ran forward to grab her hand.

"Come on!"

She followed him in a state of shock as they continued running. George was a lot faster than her and he was soon dragging her up the mountain, never letting go of her hand. Eventually, he slowed down and they found a cave to hide in. Bailey leant forward onto her knees, panting heavily while George covered the entrance with some fallen branches. Bailey looked up as he finished.

"What was that O'Malley!?"

"S-sorry. I ran into Jackson on the way up the mountain and we got into a sword fight. I managed to slash his leg and he fell down so I ran. Then I found you. I'm sorry if I scared you."

Bailey shook her head.

"So, you're not going to kill me?"

George looked at her incredulously, dropping his sword and holding his hands up.

"What!? No way! You're one of the only people who made the effort to speak to me before the Games. And your words really helped me that night in a way I can't explain."

Bailey decided to not point out that she had been drunk and couldn't remember what she had said to him.

"And, you know," George continued, "I was wondering if you wanted to, I dunno, be in an alliance? I know that I'm probably the last person on earth you would want to team up with b-but I have a sword and I managed to grab a backpack that has some good stuff in it and I see that you don't have anything so-"

Bailey held up her hand to stop his rambling. He fell silent, blushing.

"George O'Malley, I would be honored to be on your team. Now does that backpack of yours have a suture kit? I can fix that cut on your head for you."

A look of relief washed over George's face as he nodded, pulling his backpack towards him and handing her the kit. She grabbed the bottle of antiseptic liquid and dabbed some on his head before pulling out the needle.

"Now this is going to hurt a little since we don't have any pain medicine, so you're going to have to be brave okay?"

George nodded, wincing slightly as she began stitching. He breathed in and out deeply before trying to take his mind off the pain.

"CPR on Denny and now stitching up cuts. Are you a doctor?"

Bailey smiled as she finished the last suture. She rinsed the needle with the antiseptic and placed the kit back into George's backpack.

"I was training to become a surgeon, second year of med school, but then the reaping happened."

"Wow, that's awesome! You'll make a great surgeon one day, Miranda."

Bailey nodded, turning away as she wished she had the chance to make George's words come true.

* * *

"This is fucked, Cristina. This is so fucking _fucked_. Did you just see Hahn! She came out of nowhere and cut Ben's head off! I've changed my mind; I have _no interest _in dying."

Cristina nodded her head vigorously and they continued running into the forest, clutching each other's hand as the slightest movements caused them to jump. Meredith had managed to grab a backpack as they ran away from the Cornucopia and now they were going to hide and wait for the tributes to kill each other. It was a rubbish plan that probably wouldn't work, but it was the only thing they felt they could do competently.

They slowed to a walk as they continued up the mountain, searching for a good hiding spot. Meredith spotted a cave and they began walking towards it, stopping when they realized it was already occupied. Jackson sat near the entrance trying to stop the blood coming out of a deep gash that ran down his thigh. Meredith and Cristina back tracked quickly and looked for a new cave. They walked for a few moments before Cristina let out a huff of annoyance.

"Mer, I'm tired. Let's just climb a tree or something."

"With the luck we have, we would fall out of it the moment we fell asleep."

"Yeah you're probably right. This place blows; we should have tried to sneak a bottle of tequila in here."

Meredith laughed and nodded before her face froze, staring at something behind Cristina. Cristina whipped around to see Derek, holding his ribs, sword pointed at them. Cristina slowly raised her fists up in a defensive position but then let them drop, knowing there was no point.

"Do it then McDreamy," she sighed. A look of confusion crossed his face.

"I'm sorry, McWhat?"

"Does it matter?"

"You girls need to keep your voices down; I could hear you from a mile away." He sheathed his sword and began to walk away. Meredith and Cristina looked at each other in disbelief before Meredith shouted after him.

"What that's it? Just because we screwed doesn't mean you have to take pity on us."

"I'm not," he called back, "But I'm not going to kill either of you, it would be like murdering puppies."

He disappeared into the trees and Meredith turned to Cristina, bemused.

"Did he just take pity on us?"

"He totally did."

"What an ass."

Meredith hitched her bag up on her shoulders and started to walk in the opposite direction, Cristina following in a hurry.

"We need to find somewhere to hide," Meredith said, "before someone decides we're worth killing."

* * *

Alex leapt off of his platform, sprinting towards the closest backpack and grabbed one of its straps. He threw it onto his shoulder and made a bee line for a sabre that was lying near the Cornucopia. Scooping it up, he dodged a knife thrown by Lauren and ran towards the forest. Glancing around, he felt relieved when he saw Arizona running thirty feet away from him into the safety of the trees. As she reached the edge of the forest she stopped and gazed up into the branches, seeming to look for someone. So intently in fact, that she didn't notice Richard running behind her, a knife poised.

Alex changed his line quickly and began sprinting towards Richard, hoping to intercept him before he reached Arizona. He was too far away and Richard was running so fast; he wasn't going to make it in time. Alex was still ten feet away as Richard raised his knife, about to reach around and slit Arizona's throat. Alex threw his sabre with all his might, watching is it twirled silently through the air. It speared through Richard's chest as he was bringing the knife down, inches from Arizona's throat.

Arizona gasped as a limp body fell onto her, ducking under it and letting it fall to the ground. She spun around to see Alex, leaning on his knees and panting. He walked towards her and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her into the cover of the trees.

"Richard just tried to kill you, Arizona; you have to be a bit more careful."

"Oh my God. T-thank you Alex, I never expected you to look out for me in here."

"Yeah well, you've helped me a lot, it's the least I could do," he replied. "What were you doing standing out in the open like that?"

"I was looking for Teddy, we kind of formed an alliance but it looks like she's changed her mi-"

She stopped mid-sentence as the chirp of a robin reached her ears. She turned around and saw Teddy's head poking through the trees fifty feet away, beckoning her. She turned back to Alex, speaking quickly.

"There she is. Alex, come with me. Teddy will be fine with you joining us and Owen; well he'll come around eventually."

Alex shook his head.

"I told you, I don't want to be part of an alliance with them. I don't trust them, the Games change people and there can only be two winners. I don't think you should join them either, stick with me instead, we can trust each other."

Arizona looked at him sadly and shook her head.

"I can't Alex. Just… just stay safe okay?"

Alex sighed and accepted her hug.

"Yeah, you too."

Arizona smiled at him before turning and running to where Teddy was waiting. Alex frowned after her. _I hope she knows what she's doing._ He turned on his heel, pulling his sword out of Richard's back and began walking up the mountain.

Alex hadn't wanted to alliance with anyone originally. He had convinced himself that anyone who stuck around with him in this death trap was doomed. That was why he had rejected Arizona when she asked him to join the Hunt-Altman-Robbins clan a few days ago. Plus, he didn't trust Owen and Teddy; they were in these Games for no one but themselves and they had made that extremely clear in their training. Yet somehow Arizona had convinced them that she could be a valuable attribute to their team. Well, anyone who offered their only supply of medicine to a guy they only just met was somebody Alex would want in _his_ alliance. She was the only proper friend he had made while they were here and he felt an unexplainable trust towards her. But she had been determined to stick with Owen and Teddy, so Alex was going to go it alone.

A twig snapping behind Alex caught his attention and he turned slowly, drawing his sword. He waited a few moments but no one came charging toward him so he turned around and continued walking up the mountain. He strained his ears for the sound of footsteps crunching on leaves and then he got an idea.

Alex began sprinting up the mountain as fast as he could, hearing his pursuer following him loudly. He spied a large pile of boulders and made a beeline towards them, ducking out of view. When he heard the person get close enough he jumped out, sword straight in front of him and inches away from the neck of… Jo.

She screamed and fell backwards onto her hands, fear etched into her features. Alex sighed and lowered his sword, bending down to help her up.

"What the hell are you doing?" he said as he clasped onto one of her grazed hands. "Why are you following me?"

"I'm scared Alex," she replied, her voice shaky. "I don't want to do this alone in here and then I saw you walking and I was about to ask you if you wanted to team up but then you began running away and-"

"Then you nearly got yourself killed," he interrupted. "Look, I don't do alliances okay? Especially not with people who bring nothing to the table."

"But I do!" she replied. "I'm really good at climbing. I can climb any tree in here and get eggs and I know how to cook on a fire. I managed to get a few throwing knives so we can use them on any big animals we see. Please, Alex. I know you don't really like me but you can't do everything alone."

"I've managed pretty well before, I can do it aga-"

Alex was interrupted as a shrill scream pierced through the air. He spun around, looking for the source of the noise and began running towards it, Jo right behind him. He slid down a muddy bank, leapt over some logs and hid behind a large oak tree as the source came into view. Jo came panting behind him a few moments later and he held up his hand telling her to be quiet. He grabbed the throwing knife from her hand and turned back to the two tributes in front of him.

Shane was standing over a fallen Izzie, his dagger pointing at her throat as he breathed heavily. Izzie's left arm had been cut and blood was slowly dripping onto the dirt beneath her.

"What the hell are you doing Shane? We're from the same district! A girl _and_ a guy can win this thing, I'm not affecting your chances!" Izzie yelled.

"I can't take that risk. You could alliance with some guy and then boom; suddenly you _are_ out to kill me. Sorry, but it's how you play the Game. Goodbye, Izzie."

Shane raised his dagger and Alex leapt out of his hiding place, throwing the knife with all the force he could muster. It sunk into Shane's head, causing him to topple to the side. Izzie stared transfixed at her dead attacker before leaning away from him and vomiting heavily. Alex and Jo walked cautiously forward as she wiped her mouth.

"Going to kill me now?" Izzie asked as fresh tears formed in her eyes. Alex shook his head and helped her up.

"I don't kill chicks. Attacking someone from your own district is a douche move even if it _is _the only way to win," Alex replied. He began to walk away when he noticed both women following him. He turned around slowly, eyebrow raised.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Well, you saved my life. I wouldn't be here without you, so I'm going to pay you back by being a fantastic team member," Izzie replied.

Alex shook his head vigorously. How the hell had going solo turned into a three person alliance?

"No, no, no," he said, "No alliance. Go find a cave to hide in, that's what I'm going to do."

"Yeah, he doesn't want to be in _your _team," Jo piped up. "Come on Alex, let's go."

"Right, because your skinny ass would make a _really _useful companion," Izzie spat back.

"Rather have my skinny ass then your fat one!"

"Oh that's a great comeback, how old are you? Five?"

"Old enough to kick your fat ass!"

"Bring it, bitch!"

"Enough!" Alex yelled. "Both of you shut the hell up or someone's going to hear us and come running and then we'll _all_ be dead. This isn't an alliance okay? I'm going to find a cave to sleep in for the night and then I'll figure out a game plan tomorrow morning."

"Good idea," Izzie said.

"I'm awesome at making up game plans," Jo added.

"Yeah, well I'm awesome at making up strategies, which are more useful than game plans," Izzie replied.

"They're the same thing!"

"Are not!"

Alex sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, and began walking back up the mountain. He prayed they wouldn't follow him, but knew they would. He listened to them bicker all the way to the cave and felt too tired to care anymore.

Needless to say, he didn't sleep a wink that night.

* * *

**A/N: So! We have our alliances all set up, a lot of unanswered questions and a few people dead. Next chapter will return to the normal format of one character's POV. Don't forget to review and let me know what you think :)**


	8. Arizona

**_A/N: Thank you for all the kind reviews! Here's the next chapter :)_**

* * *

_Arizona was searching for doughnuts. Chocolate, strawberry, cream, jam, any kind of doughnut, she just needed one __**now**__. _

_Doughnuts had a way of making her feel better when she began to think too much, particularly about how she was entering the arena in less than two weeks. It was midnight and she had managed to sneak into the hotel kitchen in search of her favourite sugary snack. The hotel's pantry was ginormous, allowing her to wander right in and search the shelves thoroughly._

_"What are you looking for?"_

_Arizona's heart thudded heavily against her ribs as she spun around. Callie was standing in the doorway, arms crossed with an eyebrow raised. Arizona breathed out a sigh of relief as her heart continued to beat vigorously._

_"Shit Callie, you nearly gave me a heart attack. I was feeling a bit peckish and came looking for a midnight snack. Well, specifically doughnuts. I swear they have every other food in here except doughnuts."_

_Callie laughed and pointed to one of the top shelves, where a pink box was perched unopened. Arizona let out a squeal of delight and proceeded to climb the shelves, kicking over a jar of nuts which fell and smashed onto the tiles. She took no notice, grabbing the pink box and grinning broadly as she jumped down. She walked over to one of the counters and sat on top of it, pulling the box open to an assortment of doughnuts and picking out a strawberry jam one. She offered the box to Callie who took a chocolate one and sat next to her._

_"What are you doing down here anyway?" Arizona asked, her mouth full of doughnut. Callie shrugged._

_"Couldn't sleep and Mark was hanging out with Lexie so I decided to go for a walk. I noticed the lights on in here, you're not very subtle you know," Callie replied with a smirk_

_"You just decided to walk around the hotel at midnight? We're not even supposed to leave our rooms after 9pm, what if they had caught you?"_

_"What if they had caught __**you**__?" Callie replied._

_"Touché," Arizona responded and smiled before taking another doughnut, cream this time. They munched in silence for a few moments._

_"I'm sorry about Mark today," Callie said after a few seconds, "He isn't very good with, uh, first impressions. He didn't mean to come off as such a jerk, he's just really protective over me."_

_"By making crass sexual jokes and giving you syphilis?"_

_Callie nearly choked on her doughnut. Coughing, she looked up at Arizona who had a mock look of disappointment on her face._

_"I-we-no!" Callie said hastily, "I said that as a joke! Geez, gossip travels fast here."_

_"Not as fast as syphilis apparently," Arizona retorted and let out a laugh as Callie shoved her playfully._

_"Hear me out okay! I was pissed at him for making me look like an idiot in front of you so I went over to Lexie and pretended to tell her that he gave us all syphilis. Except I know that Mark really likes her so I asked her to pretend that I had told her that and feign a disgusted look and storm out of the room. But it looks like she took our 'act' too far and thought it would pay off better if she actually spread that rumor."_

_"What did you say to her instead?"_

_"Just that Mark was being a dick to me, but deep down he's a good guy. And that he likes her a lot and she should give him a chance," Callie finished with a small smile. _

_"And you said all that because, um, he made you feel like an idiot in front of me?"_

_Callie blushed slightly and looked down and her hands._

_"Well, yeah. And because he's done a lot for me. Not in that way!" she added quickly as Arizona opened her mouth with a playful smirk. Arizona laughed at Callie's look of disgust and changed her tack. _

_"May I ask what?"_

_Callie picked at her nail and didn't reply. Arizona began to feel embarrassed, had that been too personal? They had been getting along so well and so she had just assumed that Callie would be happy to spill all her life secrets to her. God, she felt like such an idiot. Just because she had some kind of insane crush on this girl didn't mean the feeling was mutual. Arizona would be happy to tell her anything she asked, but then again she had always been a very forward person. She was about to apologise for being so rude but noticed Callie open her mouth and quickly withdrew that thought._

_"Mark and I have been best friends for a long time," Callie said. "Neither of us was ever interested in volunteering for the Games, but that decision got taken out of my hands. When he found out I was coming here, he immediately volunteered. Not because he thought he could win or that he was the best, but simply because he didn't want me to be alone in here."_

_"But wait, don't tributes from your district always volunteer themselves? Couldn't you have passed the baton on, so to speak?" Arizona asked._

_Callie shook her head._

_"Usually the two top tributes get automatically volunteered by the Academy that we train in. But my father, well, he's an influential man. He demanded I be entered and those people just do whatever he says. A lot of people from the district complained, saying he was hindering Two's chances of winning as I was only the fourth best in my class. So, they sent the top four boys and girls into separate mini arenas to fight to the death."_

_Callie shifted slightly as tears sprung into her eyes. Arizona felt horrified. What kind of a father would deliberately send his daughter into such a situation? She reached out and grabbed Callie's hand, squeezing it tightly. Callie sniffed and continued._

_"The other three girls, they were so much better than me. They completely ignored me and went after each other since I wasn't considered a threat. I was just the rich girl whose daddy had a big influence and an even bigger ego. Well, eventually there was only one left and she was badly wounded so I-I just…"_

_Callie trailed off as a tear streaked down her cheek. She wiped it with the hand that wasn't clutching Arizona's and let out a shuddery sigh._

_'Mark, well he barely made it. He was the second best in his class but they were all really good. He was in hospital for a week and we weren't sure if he was going to wake up. But he pulled through and still chose to come in here with me. Mark is a lot of things, but selfish isn't one of them. I don't think I would be able to do this without him."_

_Arizona nodded and they sat in silence for a few moments, an occasional sniffle from Callie being the only noise. Eventually, Arizona spoke._

_"Callie, I'm so sorry. That's such a- Nobody should be put through that. So I don't understand why your father volunteered you?"_

_Arizona felt Callie stiffen and she quickly backtracked._

_"I'm sorry, that's a really personal thing to ask. You don't have to answer that, it's none of my business."_

_"No, it's okay," Callie said. "It's just a difficult topic. My older sister, Aria, got into a bit of trouble with the law. She got busted selling a whole bunch of drugs to minors and it was all through the papers. Brought all kinds of shame to the 'great' Torres name and my father's reputation was in jeopardy. So, his solution to bringing honor back to our name was for his daughter to win the Hunger Games. And since Aria is too old to enter, the 'honor' fell onto me."_

_"But that's so unfair!"_

_"Yeah, I told you it was a difficult topic. The only way to hurt my Dad is to attack his massive ego and that's what both the media and Aria had done. We had __**a lot **__of fights about it but my father isn't a man who's used to hearing no and, well, here I am," Callie finished with a shrug._

_"I can't believe your own flesh and blood would send you into an arena where there's a high chance you could die!"_

_"It's not as simple as that, Arizona."_

_"Seems like it to me!"_

_"Well, it's not. There are a lot of other things nobody but Mark and I know about that are going to factor into the arena."_

_"Like what?"_

_"So, you're friends with Teddy from Three?"_

_The change of topic wasn't missed by Arizona. She was burning with curiosity to know what Callie knew, but wasn't going to push it. Callie had opened up to her in such a huge way and now it was Arizona's turn to answer a few questions. She noticed Callie was avoiding eye contact with her, but still held her hand so she couldn't be too upset._

_"Yeah. I used to live in Three when I was younger and we were best friends. But I left when I was eleven and moved to Four. We still talked occasionally over Skype and so when I saw her in here, I couldn't really believe it."_

_"So, um, you're in an alliance with her?" Callie asked, failing to sound nonchalant. Arizona nodded._

_"Yeah. She just-she asked me the other day. I couldn't believe it really. Neither could Owen, he hates my guts since I'm stealing his 'girl' away from him."_

_Callie couldn't ignore the tug of disappointment that she felt in her gut. She had left it too late; Arizona was already in another team. And she had basically just said her and Teddy were dating, which made the situation even worse._

_"Oh, right, okay," she replied, trying to keep her tone casual as she attempted to prise her fingers from Arizona's. "So you and Teddy, you're dating?"_

_Arizona looked up in shock. Shaking her head vigorously, she scooted closer to Callie and tightened the grip on her hand._

_"What? No, no, no, only friends. I mean sure she's attractive, but just not my type. I mean, being a girl is my type but you know, she's-she's just not the kind of girl I usually go for. Plus, she's not gay. But that doesn't matter because even if she was, she's just not my um…type," Arizona finished lamely, feeling herself blush furiously. _

_Callie couldn't help the smile the sprung onto her face and Arizona soon matched it. They continued talking for another hour about lighter topics; favourite foods, which tributes were sleeping together, how much they hated Stark. Arizona couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she subtly inched closer to Callie; a smile that grew even wider when she noticed her doing the same. They were only inches apart when Arizona reached for a powdered doughnut, the tension becoming too much for her. She bit into it and Callie laughed as some powder clung to her chin._

_"You missed some," Callie said as she reached over._

_ Callie wiped it away but left her hand lingering on her chin. Arizona felt her heart quicken as she stared into dark chocolate eyes._

_"So can I ask," Callie said in barely more than a whisper, "What is your type?"_

_Arizona gulped._

_"Well, um, usually they're insanely sexy. And they have amazing brown eyes with even more amazing curves. And they sit in a hotel kitchen with me talking for an hour and it only feels like minutes," Arizona replied, leaning in slightly._

_"How do I know if I fit the description?" Callie said, only inches away from Arizona's lips._

_"I think you'll know," she whispered and closed the gap between them._

_The kiss was sweet and careful; one you would give someone on their doorstep after a first date. They kissed gently for a few moments, soft cautious pecks. Arizona lifted the hand that wasn't holding Callie's and ran it through her raven black hair. God, she loved that hair. Callie pulled Arizona closer to her, pushing their bodies against one another._

_A soft moan came out of Arizona's throat and Callie reacted, parting her lips and letting Arizona slide her tongue into her mouth. The kiss remained slow as they got used to each other, enjoying every minute in their moment of passion. Arizona let go of Callie's hand and placed it against her cheek, gently rubbing her thumb over the soft skin._

_Callie pulled away suddenly, staring Arizona in the eye before sliding off the bench. A look of fear was plastered across her face as she ran her fingers through her hair._

_"We should probably get going, we're not meant to be out this late," Callie said as she made her way to the door. Arizona looked at her, confused. She jumped off the bench and ran forward, grabbing her hand._

_"Woah, woah, woah, wait a minute! Before you didn't care how late it was and now you're basically sprinting to your room, have I done something wrong?"_

_Callie pulled her hand away gently and put it in her pocket._

_"No, no absolutely not. It's just…things are complicated and-and we shouldn't do this, it's dangerous."_

_"Who doesn't love a bit of danger?" Arizona replied, sending a cheeky wink that received no response._

_"Me," Callie replied sharply. "There's only one female winner, Arizona, and I don't know if I can… well I guess I could try… but he would never… would he?"_

_Arizona looked at Callie feeling completely and utterly lost. A moment ago she was kissing her with so much passion and now she was talking about…killing her?_

_"Callie, what-?"_

_"Nothing, Arizona. Look I'm just-I'm tired, I need to sleep. Maybe we should stay away from each other from now on, this is too complicated." She turned to leave and Arizona felt anger surge through her._

_"I get it," she snarled, "it's fine for Mark and Lexie to have something but not us? Why, because I'm a girl?"_

_Callie turned back to Arizona, a look of sadness on her face. She shook her head._

_"That's not the reason Arizona. My situation is completely different to Mark's. If it got around that we were something, you wouldn't last a night in the arena."_

_With that she strode out of the kitchen, leaving a thoroughly confused Arizona standing alone._

* * *

"Robbins! You coming or what?"

Arizona was pulled from her thoughts by a shouting Teddy. It was their turn to go hunting and Arizona had run to the cave to get some throwing knives. She had become lost in a memory, causing her to stare into space for a few minutes and irritating a waiting Teddy.

She scooped up three knives and ran out to meet her.

"Sorry, couldn't find them."

Teddy rolled her eyes and motioned them to run through the trees. They climbed the nearest one, a large Elm, and began running. They jumped from branch to branch with ease, their fast feet and light physiques allowing them to climb some extremely slim trees. Teddy came to a sudden halt, causing Arizona to slam into her back and they both nearly toppled from the branch. Teddy shot her a dirty glare and Arizona mouthed 'sorry' before looking to the ground.

A deer was walking slowly across the ground, sniffing hopefully at the earth for scraps of food. Teddy pulled the bow off of her shoulder and loaded an arrow into it. She breathed in deeply as she slowly pulled the arrow back until the string was taught. Before she could release it, a dagger came whistling through the air, slicing the deer's neck clean open.

Teddy and Arizona looked around furiously for the attacker and soon spotted Mark running towards it, arm punching the air in triumph. Arizona froze as a smile crept onto Teddy's lips. She re-positioned the arrow, aiming for Mark's head as he bent over the deer.

"Teddy, wait!" Arizona whispered furiously.

"I can't concentrate when you're talking, shut up."

"No, Teds, wait!"

"Are you fucking kidding me right now Arizona? He's a career, he's a favorite to win this thing and he's at our mercy. Now shut it!" Teddy whispered back angrily.

"Think about it Teddy," Arizona said quickly, "If you kill him, your name will appear in the sky next to his face. And then the Torres girl will come after us and we _don't _want that."

"I don't care, there's three of us and only one of her. Plus, I thought you hated him?"

"She's smart!" Arizona said, ignoring Teddy's question, "She'll attack when we least expect it, leave Sloan for Burke or Hahn to get, you know they will eventually."

Teddy hesitated but didn't lower her bow. Mark had lifted the deer onto his shoulders with a grunt and was walking away from them slowly. A furious battle seemed to be going on in her head as Arizona watched her, silently hoping she would listen.

Eventually, Teddy lowered her bow, slinging it over her shoulder and turning to Arizona.

"Fine, but you get to tell Owen that you lost our dinner _and _Mark Sloan's scalp."

Arizona gulped as Teddy turned and ran back to camp.


	9. A Realization Revealed

Addison whimpered in pain as she tried to detangle her hair from some sharp thorns. She thought she had heard someone following her so began running blindly towards shelter; and straight into a thorn bush. She clenched her teeth and pulled, red strands of hair tearing until she was finally freed.

She hated this place. She hated the endless amount of bugs that seemed to be crawling everywhere. She hated the way the slightest rustle made her jump ten feet into the air. She hated the thought of having to eat something that wasn't from a supermarket. But most of all, she hated Derek Shepherd.

When they had been reaped, she had been extremely optimistic. They could team up together and have each other's backs and hopefully have a shot at winning this thing. That was the idea Addison had in her head for the first week of training, and he seemed to be going along with the plan. Until she asked him to be in an alliance a few days into their training and he had looked at her like she was insane, claiming he couldn't trust her.

Addison sat down against a tree trunk with a huff. They had dated for two years and a slight _mishap _with another man had resulted in him leaving her for dead. Well, a _few _other men. But that wasn't the point. It's not like she would have betrayed him in here; no one else wanted her on their team anyway.

The Capitol's anthem rang around her and Addison looked up. Six photos appeared in the sky with small lists beneath them. They read:

**Name: **Ben Warren

**Age: **19

**District: **5

**Killed by: **Erica Hahn

**Name: **Richard Webber

**Age: **21

**District: **6

**Killed by: **Alex Karev

**Name: **Charles Percy

**Age: **17

**District: **10

**Killed by: **Gary Clark

**Name: **April Kepner

**Age: **20

**District: **11

**Killed by: **Tracker Jackers

**Name: **Shane Ross

**Age: **19

**District: **12

**Killed by: **Alex Karev

**Name:** Lauren Boswell

**Age: **18

**District: **13

**Killed by: **Callie Torres

The anthem finished and the pictures disappeared to be replaced by the dark sighed and laid her head back against the tree. Alex Karev had murdered two people already? Addison hadn't picked him to be such a ruthless killer. In training he had always been hanging out with Arizona or trying to run away from Jo, never really focusing on the attacking aspect of their sessions. People had been saying it for weeks that the Games changed people but she never really believed them until now. Suddenly, she was feeling extremely vulnerable.

The first thing they had been taught in survival training was to find a safe place to hide. She had no items or weapons and so that was her only option; hiding. She stood up slowly, dusting the leaves off her pants and turned to face the tree. There was no way she was sleeping in some dirty cave with all its bugs and dampness so the only option she had was to live in the branches like some kind of bird.

Addison reached up, feeling for a knot and heaving herself up. She began climbing slowly, reaching for a rather thin looking branch to hang her weight on. It snapped instantly and she fell to the ground, yelling out in pain as he back slammed against the hard mud beneath her.

After a few moments of cursing and muttering she stood tenderly, rubbing her lower back and walking gingerly towards a nearby cave. _Looks like I'm camping with the bugs after all, _she thought. She was pissed off and over being in this ridiculous arena.

"Fuck you, Derek. This is all your fucking fault," she hissed to herself as she entered the cave. "McDreamy? More like McDouchey. I hate you _and_ your stupidnickname and now I feel like McDonalds, asshole." She huffed as she sat down and buried her face into her knees.

"Um, occupied?"

Addison snapped her head up to see Jackson sitting on the other side of the cave, face white as paper and his t-shirt tied around his thigh. It was soaked in blood and he was holding what looked like wasps in his hand. He made no attempt to move toward his sword but Addison was still wary.

"Sorry," she said "Didn't see you there."

"Yeah. You're going to kill me then?" he replied. Addison shook her head and slumped against the wall.

"With what? I don't have a weapon unless you'd like to give me that sword of yours. I was thinking we could share this cave instead? You can't really say no since you look like you can barely walk."

Jackson let out a small laugh and nodded. He grabbed one of the wasps out of his hand and pushed the stinger into his bloodied thigh. Addison stared at him quizzically as he closed his eyes for a few minutes. Eventually he opened them, a dopey grin plastered across his face. He held one out to Addison.

"Tracker Jackers," Jackson said. "I stumbled across the Kepner girl absolutely covered in them. I waited until the swarm disappeared and pulled a few from her corpse. Some of them still have enough hallucinogenic material left in the stingers to dull the pain in my leg for a while. Want to try?"

"But I'm not in pain."

"That doesn't matter. You'll love it, trust me. It's like doing drugs without all the negative side effects and if you only use one the buzz wears off after a few hours. Go on."

Addison hesitated for a few seconds before reaching out and taking one. Jackson nodded encouragingly as she pushed the stinger into her arm, hissing as she felt the acid start to spread through her system. She felt nothing and turned to Jackson to ask what that had really been when her mind started to cloud and she forgot what she wanted to say. She was at peace with the world and life was great. Why had she been so worried before? She _loved _this cave; it was so dark and mysterious. She felt the seconds tick by, or was it hours? Jackson turned to her, smiling lazily.

"You're so pretty, how could Shepherd resist you?"

"For one and a half years he couldn't," she replied, drooling slightly. "We had sex _every _day and it was just so fantastic. But then he went all stupid and said he wasn't interested in sex anymore, that he wanted to abstain from it. So, I found it in other places, which was a horrible thing to do, but holy shit I was horny. Then at the party the other night he was getting it on with Meredith in the bathroom, so I guess it was just me he wasn't interested in."

"Well then he _is _an idiot."

"I'm not sleeping with you."

"Ah well, it was worth a shot."

Addison laughed as Jackson winked cheekily. The Tracker Jacker's venom was really starting to take its toll on her now; she could see a fairy buzzing silently around her head and a beetle on the wall was giving her a funny look.

"I know this is none of my business, but I'm so high right now so I don't really care. Are you Harper Avery's grandson? The guy who won the 42nd Hunger Games by killing every tribute single handedly?" Addison asked. Jackson didn't reply immediately. He scratched his chin and frowned as his brain slowly processed his answer.

"Yeah, I am," he finally said. "He was so excited when I got reaped; said I could carry on the great Avery tradition. And instead, I got slashed by the youngest kid here and now I'm dying. There was a lot of expectation on me, you know? I didn't ask for any of it, my family are gonna be pissed."

"Do you reckon they have McDonalds in hell?"

Jackson looked at Addison incredulously before bursting into laughter. This girl was alright.

"I have no idea. You don't think you're going to heaven?"

"Nah, I don't pray. Also, I created a group in high school called the 'Pretty Committee' and we walked around judging people on their looks."

"That's doesn't mean you're going to hell. It just means you're kind of a bitch."

Addison looked at Jackson and burst into laughter. She couldn't stop herself, loud racking sobs taking over her body and Jackson soon joined in. They laughed for what could have been hours until Jackson sat up, clutching his stomach and choking out.

"Ask her if she knows about the McDonalds thing."

"Ask who?"

"The girl standing in the entrance."

"I think you're hallucinating Avery because I can't see anyon-"

Addison's eyes adjusted to the light coming in from the entrance to see Erica standing there, a smirk on her face. She unsheathed her sword and walked slowly towards them. Addison sighed and turned back to Jackson.

"I'm going to be pissed if they only have Burger King," she said. He opened his mouth to reply, the words never leaving his throat as Erica swung.

* * *

**Boom! Boom!**

Derek jerked awake from his nap and looked into the sky. Jackson and Addison's face's appeared in the clouds and his stomach dropped. Addison was dead. He couldn't help but feel guilty. He had been adamant not to team up with her since she had broken his heart and now she was dead. Derek swallowed and untied the rope that was securing him to the branch he was sleeping on.

He knew she didn't stand a chance in here but he didn't realize she would die on the first night. She may have been a cheating whore but she was still his friend. They had had good times together; laughing and teasing each other like old friends did. But there was always the underlying resentment he held toward her for cheating on him. Sure, he had been absent from their relationship at times but he had never stopped loving her until months after they broke up. And now she was dead.

Derek jumped to the ground, rolling forward to absorb the impact. He had to find Callie. He had to know if he stood a chance in here; if Addison's death was in vain. He had heard that her alliance was planning on camping in the Cornucopia so he began walking down the hill. It would take him at least two hours to get back to the field but he didn't mind. He liked how peaceful it was in the forest at night; it would have been about 8pm and so he doubted he would come across any other tributes.

Derek had been walking half an hour when he heard voices ahead. He ducked quickly into a leafy bush and squinted. Callie came storming out of a cave that was hidden by piled up branches. Derek couldn't believe his luck; she had basically walked right out to meet him. Mark came running out after her, completely naked.

"Torres, wait!" Mark yelled. He made no attempt to cover himself as he chased after her. She spun around, a furious expression on her face and pointed her finger at him.

"No, Mark, okay! It's the first night for goodness sake and I've walked in on you two doing it three times! _Three times! _Shouldn't you be saving your energy or something? Surely that's not healthy, I'm sick of it!"

"We have urges, it's natural."

"No it's not! If I walk in on you two _one more time _I swear I'll leave the alliance."

"Fine, it won't happen again. Why don't you go hunting or something? Be gone at least an hour and there won't be a problem."

"I hate you so much." Callie stalked off, fists balled in anger. Mark shrugged and walked back to the cave, where Lexie was peeking out. She grinned as he approached and he scooped her up before disappearing into the darkness. Derek ducked down and followed the path Callie had taken, keeping low and unsheathing his sword. He found her sitting against a tree, eyes closed and mumbling incoherently to herself.

"Can I come any closer or will some lightning strike me down?"

Callie's eyes flew open and she scrambled to her feet. She made no attempt to draw her weapon but glared at Derek.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Shepherd. Go away."

"No, I want answers."

"I don't owe you anything."

"You're right, you don't. But I still want you to talk. I'm happy to spill all the things I know right out here in the open, I'm pretty sure I'm a dead man walking anyway."

A low growling sound came from somewhere to his left. Callie glanced nervously towards the noise and then sighed. She beckoned for him to follow her and they trudged uphill. They walked for twenty minutes, neither speaking until they reached a shallow cave. Callie ducked into it and Derek followed. She ran her hands along the walls, stopping when she felt a camera and smashed it with the hilt of her sword. Derek sheathed his sword and crossed his arms as Callie turned to face him.

"What do you think you know?" she said nonchalantly. Derek took a deep breath.

"You've been receiving special treatment the whole time we've been here. I couldn't figure out why until something clicked when you were on the phone to him."

Callie shifted slightly but didn't speak.

"You're father," Derek continued, "is Carlos Torres."

She hesitated, and then nodded.

"Owner of C.T Enterprises and basically every business that runs out of the Capitol."

Another nod. Derek took a deep breath.

"And," he said, his heart sinking, "The Game Maker for this year's Hunger Games."

She stared at her feet. Derek felt like his heart was a lump of lead.

"That's why Stark backed down whenever you mentioned him. That's why you freaked out when he threatened to tell your Dad about Arizona. You knew if he found out, he would send something to kill her as soon as she entered the arena."

Callie nodded, tears in her eyes.

"Is that the reason why she isn't it an alliance with you?"

Callie shook her head, thinking back to the night of the Last Chance ball.

* * *

_"Oh my God, you are so fucking infuriating!" Callie yelled. She was having a fight with Arizona, who wasn't getting it through her skull that Callie wasn't into Mark. She saw someone leaving the balcony to go back inside out of the corner of her eye and sighed._

_"Look Arizona, it's not private out her. Come into my room and we can talk about this properly."_

_Arizona looked at her sceptically but Callie walked passed her, grabbing her hand and tugging her along behind her. She had forgotten how drunk she was and walked straight into the glass wall thinking it was the open door. Arizona let out a small giggle and Callie threw her a look of mock embarrassment. They entered her room and Arizona shut the door behind them._

_"Why won't you believe me that I'm not into Mark?" Callie asked._

_"You've barely spoken to me all week after that night in the kitchen and you've been hanging around Mark every second of the day."_

_"Because he's my best friend!"_

_"And," Arizona continued like she hadn't heard the interruption, "When he came storming over to me the other day demanding I give him Airwillow, you backed him up! I told you I had run out of it and you begged me like some girlfriend to give him some."_

_"Because I was scared for him. And you told me you knew how to make the stuff but you obviously jut couldn't be bothered making it for him."_

_"I don't have all the ingredients here! And see, here you are backing him up again! Be on my side, Callie!"_

_"I barely know you Arizona!"_

_"Because you've been avoiding me all week. Give me a chance, get to know me."_

_Callie heard the desperation in Arizona's voice and met her eyes. They had tears in them and Callie pounced. She pushed Arizona against the wall, kissing her furiously as alcohol clouded her brain. Arizona responded by kissing her back harder, flipping them around so her hips were pushing against Callie's. She pulled Callie's dress up over her hips, burying her hand into her underwear. Callie moaned and her eyes closed instinctively as fingers entered her and she felt teeth on her neck. A hot wave of pleasure rushed through her and she moaned again as Arizona's lips came crashing against hers._

_"Oh my God!"_

_Callie's eyes snapped open and she saw Bailey in the doorway._

_"What the hel- Bailey, get out!" she screeched._

_"I am so, so sorry," Bailey replied quickly as she covered her eyes, "I just- key card! I need the key card!"_

_"On the table by the door," Callie yelled, "Take it and get out!"_

_Bailey spun around, grabbing the key card from the desk before slamming the door behind her. Arizona looked at Callie and burst into laughter. She watched as tears of mirth filled those gorgeous blue eyes and she couldn't help but laugh too. She wasn't sure whether it was her conscience or the alcohol that made her blurt out the words._

_"Be in my alliance."_

_Arizona stopped laughing and looked at her seriously. She didn't speak and Callie felt herself start to go red._

_"I'm already in an alliance," she finally said._

_"I know," Callie said quickly, "but I'm saying to leave them and join us. We're stronger and it means that we can, you know, be together."_

_"Callie, I don't know. You said it yourself, there's only one female winner and it could be risky. Mark and I don't exactly get along."_

_"He'll understand. We agreed we could add one person each to the team, he picked Lexie and I'm picking you."_

_"So, I should be honored?"_

_"What? No, I'm not saying that. It means that I could protect you out there Arizona, you would be safe with me."_

_"You don't think I can look after myself out there? I grew up with the name Arizona; I know how to play dirty."_

_"That's not what I meant. You'll just be safer with me, nothing bad will happen."_

_"Because I'm such a princess that I couldn't fight off some big bad wolf?"_

_"No, you're not listening to me!"_

_This was not going the way Callie had planned. She expected Arizona to say yes immediately, for them to kiss on it. Instead, she was fighting her at every turn. They were standing feet apart now, an air of hostility now between them._

_"You're being stupid Arizona. I'm not calling you weak or vulnerable; I'm just saying you'll last a lot longer if you stick with me."_

_"So you __**are**__ saying I don't stand a chance without you? Bit arrogant don't you think?"_

_"I'm not saying that!"_

_"Yeah, well, a little bit, you are."_

_"No! I just-there are things that will happen in the arena to other tributes that won't happen to me."_

_"Like what?"_

_"I-I can't say."_

_Arizona rolled her eyes dramatically and clenched her teeth as she spoke. Callie spoke hurriedly, realizing this situation was getting out of control._

_"Arizona, my Dad-"_

_"No, Callie! Stop hiding behind your father! Stand up for yourself for fucks sake! You're your own person yet you let him rule your life like a puppeteer. Go into the arena on your own ability, stop letting your daddy shoulder all of your responsibilities."_

_"What? He doesn't! You don't know what you're talking about."_

_"Yeah, 'cause you won't tell me. You know what? You were right. We're not good for each other. I have no idea who your father is and I don't think I want to know. Good luck in there; though I have a feeling you don't need it."_

_Arizona strode towards the door, flinging it open and storming out. Callie chased after her, desperate to repair this situation that had spiralled so suddenly out of control._

_"Arizona, wai-"_

_And then she saw Stark._

* * *

"She isn't in an alliance with me because she didn't want to be," Callie replied. Derek nodded his head, not wanting to pry into her personal life even more.

"So I'm guessing this is why you and Sloan have been so nice to everyone? I thought it was strange that tributes from Two were being so friendly but just figured you guys were good people. I should have known better," he spat.

"That wasn't an act; it's who we really are."

"So you didn't host the Last Chance party because you felt guilty about all your friends going into the arena with no chance?"

"No, we hosted it because everyone needed to have some fun. Plus, the boys _do _have a chance."

Derek looked at her quizzically.

"But Sloan-?"

"My Dad made no promise to protect him. He came with me because he didn't want me to be lonely, not because he was promised victory."

Derek felt his heart lighten slightly. He had been sure Mark would also receive Mr Torres' special treatment, but he guessed protecting them both would start to look suspicious to the viewers.

"Nobody else knows," Callie added after a few moments. "Only Mark, the President and now you. I tried to tell Arizona but, well, she didn't want to hear it."

"So what you're saying," Derek said slowly, "is that you're destined to be the female winner."

Callie held his eye and nodded.

* * *

**A/N: Well there we have it, our female winner! Or do we… Please let me know what you think and review!**


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